Requiem
by Aquamarine1212
Summary: "Even the people who never frown eventually break down."- Linkin Park : A Mikey-centered story. Vaguely influenced by "The Same As It Never Was". Description coming soon! Rated T. No turtlecest.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi there! So, I began writing this with the intention for it to be a one-shot about Leo recovering from his injuries, and then it kind of just ran away. It was going to be a cute little fluffy thing with lots of brotherly love, but then it took a much different turn and somehow this came out. Now it's the first chapter of a story I've been meaning to write for some time. (yay!) **

**Alright, so a few things you should know about this story is that it's vaguely based on "The Same As It Never Was", as far as the whole 'going forward in time and things are messed up' aspect, but it's not a rewrite of that story in a different universe; this is something totally different. Also, there will be absolutely NO turtlecest in this story. Nada. None. Zippo. **

**Alrighty, now with that out of the way, I can introduce you to my latest creation (laughs evilly), Requiem. For those of you who don't know what a requiem is, it is pretty much a hymn for the dead. ****Anywho, enjoy this first chapter, and please review. I love reviews. And yes, there's a quote at the beginning but that is simply because it was way too perfect for this. There may or may not be a quote at the beginning of all the other chapters. The quote is by Linkin Park's song, "Pushing Me Away".**

**I do not own TMNT.**

* * *

_~"Even the people who never frown eventually break down."~_

* * *

It had been a very long day.

Leo sighed as he, his brothers, April and Casey walked back the farmhouse. Today's battle had included a tribe of mutant frogs that wanted revenge on the human race for destroying their home; nothing too terribly different from their other escapades. Honestly, he was grateful that they had finally run into something that was along the lines of normal (at least for them) in these woods. So far, nothing in this out-of-the-way place had been peaceful. He had imagined that coming to the woods would at least give them a break from the crazy mutant-hunting they had done in the city, but it seemed wherever they went they brought chaos. Things had been anything but peaceful here.

"-and he busted a sick ninja move! It was totally awesome!" Leo only caught the tail end of Mikey's comment as he came back down to reality. The orange clad turtle's face was bright with excitement, and his eyes sparkled with a playful sort of look. "I think it was the only one he could really do, but it was still totally epic!"

"Why did he always sound so...annoyed?" April asked, cocking an eyebrow. As they walked along, Leo could see the silent battle between Casey and Donnie playing out, both of them fighting for a spot next to April. Their glares spoke a thousand words as they stood off. April of course was totally unaware of this, her attention instead fixated on Mikey.

"Dunno. Guess it's just the way he talks. I mean, none of you ever ask why Raph always sounds angry," Mikey countered, a smug smile tugging at his lips.

"Hey!" Raph growled, shooting a glare at his younger brother. Mikey just stuck out his tongue playfully, knowing he was egging his older brother on but deciding to chance it.

"How are you feeling?" Donnie asked, diverting Leo's attention. "You really shouldn't have been fighting, what with your leg and stuff…"

"I'm fine, Donnie," Leo said with a half-hearted smile. His voice so was much deeper now. It was hard, trying to get used to speaking and hearing a voice he didn't recognize. "I mean, I don't need the crutch anymore-"

"-that doesn't mean you should be running all over the place," Donnie said with a frown. There was Donnie's ''doctor mode' kicking in, "I'll check up on it when we get back to the farm."

"Donatello, I was holding my own fine in that fight," Leo said sternly. "I promise I'll let you know if it starts hurting again, ok?"

"...ok," Donatello said reluctantly. As they continued to approach the old house, and Mikey continued to chatter non-stop, Donnie couldn't help but feel a twinge of unease. Something about his oldest brother had changed since they had came here, other than his voice obviously. Leo from two years ago had been new to this whole leader thing; Donatello almost laughed as recalled to himself some of the ridiculous one-liners Leo had tried to pull off, because 'that's what heroes do'.

But now there was none of that.

He had of course, noticed a gradual change, noticed his oldest brother using less of the stupid cheesy phrases like 'Halt villain!' or 'We are the turtles of justice!'. But then, after leaving the city...it had all simply gone to the wind, no more slowly becoming more and more mature with the rest of them; he had grown up in a day, suddenly becoming an adult and leaving the rest of them wondering what had happened. Of course, Donatello had several theories on how this had happened and why, but nonetheless it bothered him to see his brother so different. He wasn't supposed to grow up until...well, until he grew up.

"What were you doing out there anyways?" Casey asked Mikey, snapping Donnie out of his troubled train of thought. Suddenly everyone's eyes were on the youngest of the four turtles and the group had come to a halt. Mikey's eyes flashed with uncertainty for a moment before he plastered the cheesiest grin possible on his face.

"Um, I was just going to the forest to chillax dudes!" Mikey said, forcing a laugh. "No worries!"

Everyone seemed to be satisfied with this explanation and they returned to their chattering, yet Leo's eyes narrowed briefly. Mikey wasn't one for lying; it was Raph who had taken this art and perfected it, much to Splinter's annoyance. But there was something in Mikey's words that wasn't right. _Why would Mikey be lying?_ Leonardo mused to himself._ It doesn't make sense._ But the falter in his voice and the hesitation had no other explanation.

"You dope!" Raph growled, but there was a hint of affection in his eyes. "You should know by now that God-knows-what freaks are living out in these woods. You can't just wander out there on your own."

"Yeah, sorry Raph…" Mikey trailed off, staring at his feet.

"Oh, don't look like that," Raph said, his eyes softening as he punched his little brother's arm teasingly. "I'm just glad you aren't turtle soup." Leo could see April visibly flinch at the words, and for a moment he was puzzled. _Ah, that's right_. Her first encounter with Karai hadn't exactly been pleasant.

"You ok Red?" Casey had apparently noticed as well. April just casually waved him off, clearing her throat and standing up a little taller as if to try and make up for her moment of weakness.

Leo turned his attention back to Mikey. His younger brother seemed...off. He was trying his best to be as cheerful as possible, and he was doing a rather good job of it, but it wasn't...sincere. Something was bothering him, although what it was, the blue-masked turtle had no clue. He went over the events of the day, trying to pinpoint something in particular that could have set him off. Was he still upset about the whole episode in the living room? Surely not. They had yelled at him several times in the past and Mikey hadn't seemed that upset. Something must have happened in the woods...something he hadn't told them.

Leo resolved that he would confront him later, in private. But for now, the group just trooped home in content, the worst of the day's worries hopefully behind them.

. . . . .

The fireplace flickered, sending restless shadows across the room. Furniture was arranged in a sort of semi-circle around the fireplace, and the brown wallpaper and warm colors of the room made it feel almost cabin-like and cozy. Leo sat in the brown armchair closest to the fire, his eyes closed and his hands folded neatly in his lap. For some reason this room, this chair, the general aura of the place made it a good spot for contemplation. Deep thinking. Leo sighed, trying his best to ignore the ache in his leg. It was true he had made it through the fight today, but it was also true that he had pushed his limits. He couldn't cut back though, not when he was finally free from that wretched crutch of his. His brothers needed him now more than ever, with Splinter gone. At the thought of his father, his sensei, his throat tightened. After a moment of internal battle, the blue-masked turtle opened his eyes and sighed. His futile attempt at mediation had only made way for more troubled thoughts.

Staring into the flames and watching them do the strange, intricate dance that only they seemed to be able to accomplish, Leo felt a strange sense of distance. Where had the days gone when he had messed around with his brothers, been foolish and carefree? Now he felt like he was in a separate state of mind. The fights he used to have with them, which had seemed to come so naturally back then, now seemed petty and not worth the time or effort; child's fights. The ridiculous things they had done no longer held any appeal for him.

He sighed, staring at his knees. He wasn't hardly past seventeen. Far too young to be already acting like an adult. He didn't want to grow up, simply put, and now that he had, he wished that he could go back. Back to being awkward, geeky, still-figuring-this-out Leo. But his brothers didn't need that. They needed a leader they could rely on. When they left this farmhouse, they were going to finish the fight with Shredder, with the Kraang, once and for all.

"Hey Leo!"

Leonardo looked up, snapped out of his trance to see Mikey passing through, a bowl of...some sort of mixture of foods, in his hands. "The afternoon cartoons are on if you wanna come watch them with us," he said casually, already on his way out of the room.

"Mikey, hold up," Leo said, glancing at him out of the corner of his eyes but not moving his head. Mikey paused mid-step, freezing almost instantly. Slowly, he tilted his head curiously.

"What Leo?" Mikey said, frozen mid-step.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Leo asked, turning to face his youngest brother now, head-on.

"Uh, sure," Mikey said, staring at Leo with a mixture of curiosity and caution. Slowly, he made his way over, ditching his food mercilessly on one of the end tables, then sitting down in the chair opposite to Leo. For a moment there was silence, and Mikey shifted restlessly, his eyes darting to everywhere but his older brothers face. Leo kept his gaze locked hard onto Michelangelo.

"Earlier, when you said you went into the forest to...'chillax'," Leo closed his eyes, carefully going over his next words. He knew he had to be gentle about this. "That wasn't the whole truth, was it?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, dude," Mikey laughed forcibly. Leo opened his eyes and found, to no surprise, that Mikey's green skin had turned a few shades paler.

"There was another reason you left the house, wasn't there?" Leo sighed. He really didn't want to do this, but he couldn't help his younger brother if he didn't know what he was upset about. "Will you tell me or will I have to force it out of you?"

"Ok, you caught me," Mikey laughed, but his eyes were still nervous. "There, um, was, er, I was trying to...find the mutagen that spilled in the forest back with Mom-thing!" He grinned, obviously proud of the lie he had conjured up. "I figured maybe you guys wouldn't be so mad at me if I found it, and you'd forget about the mess I made in the living room!"

"Mikey," Leo said in a low tone.

"And, you see, I was also trying to, um, get some more wood, for the fireplace!" Mikey said, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. His eyes were growing more and more panicked by the minute.

"Mikey," Leo's voice was harsher this time.

"I have a secret girlfriend!" Mikey spouted out, his eyes frantic.

"MICHELANGELO!" Leonardo yelled, suddenly standing up. His voice was loud and raucous and it echoed softly against the walls for a second, then silence ensued. Even the noise in the living room had stopped, the distant chatter of his brothers suddenly stopping. Mikey bit his lip, staring at the ground. Sighing, Leo sat down again, holding his leg and grimacing._ Standing up so quickly didn't do my injuries any favors._ He couldn't remember the last time he had said his little brother's full name, and for a good reason too. Nobody used his full name except Splinter, especially when he was angry.

"Mikey, don't lie to me," Leo said firmly, leaning his elbow on the arm of the chair and massaging his forehead gently. "I want to know why you're upset. I want to help you."

"Why would you even care?" Mikey suddenly said, turning his face away from his older brother. His voice trembled. Leo was taken by surprise at his brother's sudden outburst, and a frown marred his features.

"Why would I care-?" Leo blinked, genuinely confused. "Because you're my younger brother, Mikey. Because I want you to be happy. Because I don't like seeing you upset." Mikey's face remained shrouded from view and he absentmindedly pulled at his fingers, a nervous habit he had picked up from Donnie.

"Really?" Mikey said. "Because I thought after the thing with Dimension X, and Leatherhead, and the portals...well...but it was just back to mess-everything-up Mikey, like I thought. You guys are always yelling at me and I'm always screwing up-"

"Mikey, you aren't a screw up," Leo said firmly. "You are as smart and as skilled as any one of us."

"Can we please just be done?" Mikey's voice trembled with anger, an emotion that Leo hadn't even thought bouncy, sunny, happy-go-lucky Mikey could even have. "I don't want to talk right now."

"Mikey, tell me what's wrong," Leo said in a tense voice. "You aren't leaving this room until I know what's going on."

"Look, I'm just a little upset at you guys for yelling at me earlier," Mikey snapped. "Ok?" Leo sighed, half relieved and half annoyed. _Honestly, of all the things to get all worked up about._

"Mikey, you made a mess in the living room. You can't expect us to be happy about that. And it's not the first time either," Leo pointed out.

"But you don't have to be so mean about it!" Mikey said, his voice cracking. "And-and it's not just that, when I get those bad feelings about people, like I did with Mom-thing, you guys tell me I'm wrong but I always turn out to be right! You're always telling me I'm stupid, I'm stupid, I'm stupid, all the time, it's all I ever hear you say!"

"Mikey-" Leo began, but his frown quickly deepened. "Mikey, look at me." Mikey's face remained turned away, and he curled his knees up to his chest, not responding. "Mikey, don't make me use your full name again. Look at me and tell me why you went into the woods in the first place. Whatever happened out there, whatever you were doing, I can help. Please, just look at me."

"No," Mikey said, his voice wavering.

"Mikey, please. I only want to help," Leo pleaded. He was growing tired of this game.

"You couldn't help," Mikey said with a small, bitter laugh.

"That's it," Leonardo growled, standing up. "I'm tired of this. You tell me right now-"

"FINE! You wanna know what I was doing out there?!" Mikey suddenly whipped around, revealing his tear-streaked face. His blue eyes were filled with emotion and his lip trembled. "I was running away! Are you happy now?!"

The words were like a bolt of lightning. Leo stared, shocked, at the now crying face of his brother. His baby brother. Suddenly every ounce of impatience and frustration melted away and his eyes searched the youngest turtle's face for some sort of lie, but he could find none. The words ran through his head and he felt his stomach drop. _My brother, my youngest brother...Oh God no_.

"Mikey…" Leo's voice cracked as his eyes flickered across Mikey's freckled face and his sky-blue eyes. "Oh Mikey."

"None of you care about me! You never have! You probably wouldn't have even noticed if I left," Mikey was nearly sobbing now. "Admit it! ADMIT IT!" Now he was screaming through the tears and Leo was almost scared that the orange-masked terrapin might have a mental breakdown. "You don't want to say it but it's true, it's all true-"

"Mikey, no…" Leo said softly. Each word was like a blow to his heart. How could he have let this happen, let his brother think he wasn't wanted? He reached out to rest his hand on Mikey's shoulder but Mikey furiously smacked his hand away. Leo flinched more than he should have.

"And you most of all Leo!" Mikey sucked in a quick, clipped breath. "You never talk to me, you hardly ever team up with me when we split up, you barely even look at me! The only time you ever notice I'm there is to lecture me! Even Raph at least _tries_ to do stuff with me!"

Leo could only stare in shock and wish he could crumble into a million peices.

"You're a great leader, and I've always looked up to you-" Mikey bit back another sob, "But you've never hung out with me just because you _wanted_ to. It's always to stop a fight or to scold me or make sure I'm behaving. You treat me like I'm-like I'm-like I'm too stupid to understand anything! I hate you, I hate you-"

"Mikey, that's not true-" Leo started, his voice hitching, but Mikey suddenly cut him off in a fit of rage.

"YOU DON'T LOVE ME!" Mikey suddenly screamed, pointing accusingly at his oldest brother.

Leonardo couldn't speak. He swore that the whole world just stopped, that his heart just suddenly stopped beating and in that moment, every single part of him died.

Mikey stared at him a few seconds more, his breaths coming out in gasps, before he suddenly broke off, running out of the room, not even bothering to hide the tears streaming down his cheeks. He ran out the door, past his other two brothers, April, and Casey, who had come when they had heard the yelling. Donnie's expression was pitiful as he reached out to grab Mikey's wrist, but the youngest brother jerked away and sent his older brother a glare as cold as ice, then rushed up the stairs. There was a slam of a door, then silence.

Before Leo knew it, everyone had crowded around him.

"What the heck happened, Leo?!" Raph growled, his eyes blazing.

"What's wrong with Mikey?" Donnie asked, his hands twitching as if he were preparing to grab medical equipment.

"I told you!" April's voice rang out clear. "I told all of you, but would you listen? No!"

Leo tuned them out and instead of answering, fell back into the chair, his eyes vacant. _My baby brother. My baby brother._ Leo's throat constricted and he closed his eyes, burying his face in his hands so he didn't have to look at the faces of the people around him. He tried to take deep breaths, tried to calm himself, but there was nothing that could stop the onslaught of emotion that hit him like a wave. The words played over and over in his mind, like a broken record.

_You don't love me._


	2. Chapter 2

**I HAVE ARISEN FROM THE DEAD!**

***ahem* So, after months and months and months of no activity on this story, I've finally returned to it! I got sidetracked with my other stories and then...well, let's just skip the excuses and get right to the story. :) And the quote is from Linkin' Park's song "Easier to Run".**

**I do not own TMNT.**

* * *

_~"It's so much easier to go, than face all this pain here all alone."~_

* * *

There were two things he was sure of; one, he had been a complete idiot, and two, he was certainly not going to be wanted here anymore.

_What a move Mikey,_ he thought to himself. His head was buried in his pillow and he laid motionless. He could hear the yelling downstairs, and the pit in his gut sunk even deeper. Just when Leo's leg had started getting better, just when they had seemed okay again, he had gone and messed it up. Mess-everything-up Mikey was what he seemed to be doomed to be for the rest of his life. Always pushing the wrong button and always making the wrong choice. _Maybe I should just live in Dimension X,_ Michelangelo pondered to himself. _At least then I wouldn't be a screw up._

"I told you!" April screeched above the rest of their voices. "Now look at what you did!" The voices of the others came back in loud protest, and Mikey would have sunk himself lower into the bed if it was even possible. Trying to shut them out, the turtle forced himself to recall the happiest memory he could muster up at the moment; a late night party they had held after the first invasion. That night everyone had been happy. There had been no arguing or yelling; they had just enjoyed themselves and been teenagers for a change, goofing off and letting the city fend for itself for the night. Mikey briefly smiled as he remembered the contest they had held to see who could fit the most pizza gyoza in their mouth. April had been fussing over them the entire time, saying over and over that they'd choke themselves. The sweetness of the memory seemed horribly out of place right now.

"He was WHAT?!" Raph's voice thundered above the rest and an immediate hush followed. Mikey curled up, wondering exactly how Raph was going to take the news that he had been running from home. So far, it seemed that he wasn't taking it well. Knowing him, he was probably going to attempt to scream at Mikey until he was satisfied his younger brother had gotten sense knocked into him. _Yet another reason I don't want to be here._

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Mikey felt his stomach twist. "What?" he asked, his voice shaky.

"You ok?" It wasn't the voice of any of his brothers, for which he was relieved. He wasn't super-close to the hockey player, but Casey was a good guy.

"Sorta-ish," Mikey replied._ You know, I just tried to run away from my own family and now they're fighting with each other because of me and I tore apart my oldest brother's confidence, but I'm okay._

"Hey, dude, I feel ya," Casey's voice came through again. "I tried to ditch my dad _countless_ times when I was a little guy. But you know what?" the hockey player laughed sharply. "I always came back. Guess there's just this sorta connection between family that's pretty hard to break."

"Guess so," Mikey sighed.

"Your brothers are good dudes though, seriously. I wouldn't be so quick to leave 'em," Casey said somewhat nonchalantly. "Guess I'll talk to ya later."

"Yeah," Mikey said quietly, and then the sound of footsteps faded off. Mikey turned over on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He had heard Casey's story already, about his drug-addicted dad and his sister who had joined a street gang in second grade. But Casey's attempts at running from home were...different. Underneath the fog of the drugs, maybe his dad still wanted him there. Casey was still needed there, maybe still wanted. And his brothers...did they want him here? Maybe once upon a time they really had, but once their 'superhero' business had begun, it seemed like they were more and more annoyed with him every day, like he was something they were forced to bring along with them wherever they went. No, they didn't really want him there. Then there was the question of whether they needed him. He wanted so badly to say yes, of course they needed their little brother. What would they do without him? But something deep and sickening inside him cast a shadow of doubt. What did he add to their team? His intuition seemed to warn him of danger, but when did his brothers ever listen to him when he tried to tell them something was wrong? Never.

_What do I add to the team?_ The thought drifted in and out of his head and he felt a wave of exhaustion sweep over him. When had he last gotten any sleep? He couldn't recall it in his tired mind, so he just settled on too long ago and snuggled into his pillow. Maybe a little bit of shut-eye would ward-off his troubles, at least for a while. The bed felt like heaven all of a sudden and he could hardly focus on anything but the fact that he was completely bushed. He got a glance at the clock before he totally zonked out; it read two thirty four pm in bright red numbers.

A loud crash made Mikey's eyes fly open and he sat up straight in bed. The room was dark and outside the moon was rising from the east. Hadn't he just fallen asleep…? No, the clock read one nineteen am now. He must have just not had any dreams or something. Instinct made him want to sit and wait to hear the noise again, just to be sure that he had in fact heard something, but a burglar only needed to make one loud noise to break a window. Chances were, if something was trying to break into their house, it wouldn't make the mistake of creating another loud noise. Noiselessly, Mikey crawled off the bed and slipped over to the door, turning the knob so slowly and meticulously that he nearly went insane from how long it was taking him. Before he had fully opened the door, he just barely caught the noise of a pot hitting the floor. Something was definitely down there.

The orange-masked ninja slipped out the door and into the hall, darting from shadow to shadow with the mastery of a ninja. His eyes narrowed and he felt his third, white eyelid slide over his eye as he reached the stairs and started to crawl down them, prowling around like an animal. He peered through the banister and saw that there was light coming from underneath the door to the kitchen, but not a warm yellow light from a lightbulb. The light leaking out was an eerie blue-purple shade and it flickered along the carpeting. The young turtle reached the bottom of the stairs and hugged the wall like a lifeline, creeping along at an agonizingly slow pace. Whatever was in there was not good news, and he didn't plan on taking any chances. Once he had reached the door, Michelangelo got down on his hands and knees and tried to look underneath it, but the moment that he stared into the blue-purple light his eyes burned. Biting his tongue to hold back a cry of pain, Mikey jerked away from the light, blinking away tears. For a moment he pondered his next move, but there was really only one thing left to do. Standing up tall and tilting his head away from the door, Mikey opened it with a jerk.

For a moment everything turned burningly white. Michelangelo let out a small cry and covered his eyes, feeling his skin heat up almost to the point where it burned. Then all of a sudden it faded, and he risked peeking out from behind his hands.

The kitchen door was supposed to lead to the kitchen, but now there was a deep blue-purple void in its place. The void almost looked like a liquid, the way it wobbled in the doorframe and swirled around. Well, not quite a liquid, or it would have been more like a waterfall. It was…

"Jell-O!" Mikey said aloud with a proud smile. "I rock at naming stuff!" He stared at the jell-o void with curiosity. It obviously wasn't some sort of Kraang thing; they had this unhealthy obsession with the color pink, and this..uh, thing, was blue and purple. Against his better judgement, Mikey reached out and poked it. To his surprise, it didn't wobble like jell-o, instead his hand disappeared into it.

"Woah," Mikey said, wide-eyed as he drew back his hand. "Some sorta portal-thing." He opened his mouth, preparing to call out his brothers but suddenly paused. _You wanted to run away from home. Here's your chance._ The worst part of his mind brought to light the idea and his heart jumped. It was right, this was his chance to leave. If they followed after him it would take them forever to find one turtle who was very good at hiding in an unfamiliar world. And the portal might even close before morning, leaving behind no trace of his existence in this world any longer. He could leave. Forever.

Suddenly it struck him as a very very stupid idea. He wanted to leave, but it made him uncomfortable to think that he wouldn't ever have the chance to return if he wanted to. No, this was a dumb idea. But something was drawing him towards it, something he didn't quite understand. Mikey put his hand into the blue-purple jell-o portal and moved it around, tilting his head curiously as the portal swished around with the motion. _Wouldn't it be just stupid if the portal led to the kitchen?_ Mikey thought to himself, half-laughing. _It'd be the most useless portal in the history of portals._

Suddenly he froze and perked up his head a bit. The portal was making a high pitched noise, but it was so quiet he could hardly hear it. It sounded like a distant siren in the night, and for some reason it made him shudder.

"Guys…?" Mikey called out half-heartedly. "There's something weird going on…"

The noise got louder, and Mikey reeled back as he realized that the noise wasn't a siren wailing, it was screaming. Not just humans screaming either, but animalistic screeches and snarls that made him want to curl in on himself. Somehow he got the feeling that the portal didn't lead to the kitchen.

"Guys!" Mikey called out louder now, his voice panicky with fear. Without warning the portal sparked and lit up. Mikey yelped and drew back a few more paces as something began to emerge from it. The entire entry room glowed with unnatural light as a big, furry white something came out of the jell-o portal, tumbling out onto the floor with a thud. Mikey considered it warily. It didn't appear to be moving, but maybe it was just traumatized or sleeping. The orange-clad turtle slid out his nunchucks, and at the noise the ball of white fur stiffened.

Mikey watched in shock as an arm came out from underneath it and a huge white paw slammed down on the floor. Four more limbs followed, and then the creature raised its head, revealing two round black eyes and a short muzzle. Its claws were huge and Mikey felt like the creature's top half didn't quite balance out with its bottom; the shoulders and arms were huge, but the back legs were smaller than they should be. The smell of fish tainted the air around it.

"A polar bear?!" Mikey gaped. The bear snarled and lifted itself up onto its too-small hind legs, revealing that it had a bandolier full of bullets strapped across its chest and that its front paws had thumbs.

"What the shell is going on?!" Michelangelo cried out, turning around to make a dash for the staircase. The bear dropped back down to all fours and leapt at Mikey, catching his legs in its teeth and pulling him back. Mikey kicked and started to scream. Why the heck hadn't anyone else woken up yet?!

As if an answer to his question, there was a slam of a door being opened and hitting the wall, and then a blue-masked turtle appeared at the top of the stairs. He already had both his katanas unsheathed and he was tense. Without a word the oldest turtles eyes turned white and he jumped across the banister, falling from the second floor and landing on the bear's back, hard. The bear let out an earsplitting roar and reared back, but Leo just gracefully flipped off of it. Before the mutant-bear could turn around to face him, Leo had already dashed over and slammed his fist right into its ribcage. There was an audible crack that made Mikey flinch and the bear let out a chilling howl.

"What the heck is that?!" Raph appeared at the top of the stairs, Donnie right behind him and Casey and April following suit. Before Mikey could respond the portal made a grinding noise that nearly deafened everyones ears, and then it began to suck in air like a vacuum. The bear threw Leo away from it, and the oldest turtle let out a cry as his shell struck the wall. Bear mutant-Mikey made a quick decision to call him Bandolier because of the lone garment of clothing he wore, and "bear-mutant" was too cumbersome to say-raced towards the portal and dived in headfirst, disappearing into the jell-o substance. The portal was slowly getting smaller, but as it did the vacuum effect grew stronger. Things were flying into the portal, being consumed by it. A tissue box whizzed past Mikey's head, then a cup. Leo was bracing himself against the wall and holding onto the stair railing for dear life, while the others at the top of the stairs were crouched down and trying to reach Leo's hand through the banister. Mikey held onto the bottom rail of the stairs with a death grip. For a split second he risked looking back at the portal.

Big mistake.

A heavy book suddenly came careening off the bookshelf and slammed into his head full-force. Mikey screeched and lost his grip on the railing, and portal sucked him in closer as he clawed desperately at the floor, finding nothing to hold onto. Everything was swirling in front of his eyes and the portal was getting smaller and smaller, sucking up anything that wasn't grounded and heavy. Apparently Mikey wasn't heavy enough, because he felt his feet sliding into the jell-o portal.

"Mikey!"

Leonardo's cry suddenly echoed in the room and Mikey watched, horrified, as his older brother made a dive for his hand. The younger turtle almost watched in slow-motion as Leo's feet locked around the bottom baluster of the stairs, and his hand wrapped around Mikey's, causing him to come to a halt halfway in and halfway out of the portal. Leo's blue eyes stared into Mikey's intensely.

"Just hold on, okay? I'll pull you out," Leo said, his voice calm and collected. Mikey glanced back at the portal, which was getting smaller and smaller. The entire room was chaos, things flying everywhere the the blue-purple light filling the entryway.

"It's getting smaller Leo!" Mikey cried out. His legs were in the portal; what if when the portal closed, his legs ended up staying on the other side of it? "I don't want to lose my legs!"

"You won't," Leo said, his voice harsh. "I'm going to pull you out." Mikey looked at Leo with wide baby blue eyes, then back at the portal. _Your chance._ The ugly part of him chanted in his head._ Just let go of his hand and you'll be free._

"Leo," Mikey said, swallowing hard.

"I'm going to pull you out," Leo said, his voice rising in pitch now. "Okay? You are not going to lose any of your limbs."

"Leo!" Mikey looked back at the portal, which was closing in on his hips increasingly faster. "I'm gonna die!"

"You're NOT going to die!" Leo barked out, his hand clenching Mikey's tighter. _I don't want to die. I don't want to die._ Mikey's breathing increased, and he looked back at the jell-o portal. All at once he had come to a decision.

Mikey's fingers uncurled and he slipped out of Leo's grasp.

"NO!" Leo screamed, but Mikey had already been sucked in, his body disappearing into the blue-green liquid just as the portal closed. There was a sudden silence as soon as it disappeared, and the entryway was left a mess of toppled-over and scattered objects. Leo quickly got onto his feet and stood in front of where the portal had been. The silence curled up in his stomach and made him want to puke. Mikey had let go of his hand. He had _let go_ of his hand.

"Leo…" Leonardo felt a hand on his shoulder and recognized April's voice, but he didn't turn to acknowledge her.

Without a word, the blue-masked turtle drew back his hand and punched the door off it's hinges.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi again! So, I'm going to start trying to update every Friday. Let's hope it works out! (crossed-fingers) Hope you're enjoying my story so far, and thank you to those who reviewed my last chapter! Quote is by Jill Scott.**

**I don't own TMNT.**

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_~"It's slightly scary and believable. There just might be people on the other side that are like us, living a different life."~_

* * *

He couldn't breathe.

The blue-purple liquid swirled around him and made him choke. He felt like he was swimming in honey it was so thick. _I'm going to die. _Mikey kicked furiously. _I don't want to die! _Hadn't he let go of Leo's hand to prevent this from happening? Or maybe he had wanted this. He couldn't remember anything clearly anymore. _Maybe I wanted to die. Maybe that's what I meant to happen. _The thought both comforted and frightened him. Why on earth had he wanted to die? But if he had chosen this, then he must have had good reason. Slowly, the kicking in his legs stopped. The panic that had engulfed him faded into calm. He was almost sure of it now; this was what he had wanted. _I wonder what it's like to be dead, _he thought vaguely. _Will I stay here on Earth? Will I leave to another realm? _He couldn't remember what Splinter had taught them about death, but surely he wouldn't just **end. **There was too much inside of him for it to all just disappear, right?

"Something's coming through the portal!" There was a distant shout of a man with a deep, gravelly voice.

"I thought you had kept anything from getting through!" another voice, this one female, gave out a hiss. That's when Mikey realized the 'something' coming through the portal was him. He was coming through onto the other side, into whatever world had been connected to his.

"Alright boys, looks we're getting one last whirl of action," said a cocky male voice, not the grizzly one but a new, higher pitched voice.

"Would you please stop trying to act cool?" The female voice sighed. "It's so cheesy." Before they could continue, Michelangelo was suddenly pushed out of the blue-purple void, and he heard the telltale _pop _of the portal closing behind him. The moment he was out he had to shut his eyes. Everything was so bright- he felt himself falling but his reflexes were slow and he wasn't able to move his arms out in time to catch himself. With a slam he hit the ground, hard.

"Well that was anti-climatic," the girl said, her voice turning easy and loose. "Do you think it's dead or something?" Mikey tried to breathe in the air he knew was around him, but to his horror found that the blue-portal-goop had gotten into his mouth and filled up his throat, making it impossible to breathe. With struggle, he forced open his eyes, but he was lightheaded and dizzy, unable to focus. All he saw were three blurry faces above him, outlined by a gray sky.

"Hey, it lives!" the cocky voice said, but Mikey couldn't figure out if it was coming from the white face or the brown face or the brown and ginger one.

"Shut up hotshot, it could be dangerous," the deep voice growled.

"C-ca-n-nn-t," Mikey choked out the word and all three drew back.

"It speaks English too," the female hissed.

"Can't? Can't what?" the cocky voice said, but some of his confidence was gone.

"Bre-ee-thhe," Mikey wheezed out, attempting to flip over and crawl onto his hands and knees but miserably failing.

"So much for 'another whirl of action'," the female stated, a hint of sarcasm tainting her voice. "Instead we get this half-dead green blob. Now what?"

"Well we can't just leave him here," the cocky voice said sympathetically.

"Why not?" The female asked irritably. _Because I'm dying, that's why! _Mikey wanted to shout. _What kind of people are you if you won't help out a guy who's nearly dead?! _The thought occurred to him that they weren't necessarily people at all and his stomach curled up tighter.

"Because we were raised better than that," the gravelly voice retorted. "We aren't barbaric."

"The rest of the world is," the female muttered, but she didn't protest. "Hope he realizes that he's one lucky guy to have run into us." Mikey felt a pair of furry arms lifting him onto his feet, and then suddenly a pair of paws was pushing his stomach in with hard, quick motions.

"Why isn't he puking up stuff?" the cocky voice asked in concern.

"He's got some sort of shell covering him," the female voice grunted, pushing on Mikey's stomach again. Mikey tried to hold himself up as much as he could, but it was taking all his strength just to keep his eyes open. "It's really hard."

"Oh, get out of the way," the growly voice snarled, and then an even bigger pair of arms was enfolding him. Two giant paws barreled into his stomach so hard that swore he could hear his shell crack, but it got the job done. With a wheeze, Mikey felt the liquid slide up his throat and then fly out of his mouth.

"Whoa! Way to go Elsa!" the cocky voice cheered. The arms let go of Mikey and he crumpled to the floor, the dizziness in his head starting to disappear as he took in relieved breaths, air finally coming into his lungs, and coughed up the remains of the blue-purple goo.

"How many times have I told you _not _to call me that!" the grizzly voice shouted angrily.

"And how many times have I _not _listened?" the cocky voice countered. As they continued to bicker, Mikey slowly made his way to his feet, legs still shaking but his vision clearing up, and got a good look at his company.

The polar bear- Bandolier, was what Mikey had temporarily dubbed him- was now talking, being the owner of the grizzly voice. The cocky voice had taken on the form of a dark brown lizard-mutant. He had large amber eyes and a huge tail that swished back and forth. The third voice, the female, belonged to a cat-mutant. She had a calico pattern, amber eyes, and a beautiful mutation that had somehow highlighted the best parts of her cat form and human form. They were standing in the middle of an abandoned street, crumbling buildings lining the sides and plant life sprouting everywhere. Each of them were adorned with some form of weapon. The bear had his bullets strapped across his chest and appeared to have recovered his gun, as it rested in a belt that he hadn't had on before. The lizard, meanwhile, had a whip strapped to a leather belt around his waist and a slingshot. Mikey's eyes roamed over to the cat, who had a weapon he was more familiar with; katana blades. They made him think of Leo and immediately panic set in. _I can't go home. I can't go home. _For a moment he almost couldn't breathe. He couldn't return home, ever; he was stuck in a dimension that he hardly knew with a group of mutants; friend or foe he wasn't sure. When had he ever considered this as a _good _idea? It very obviously was not. _Ok, deep breaths. Panicking isn't going to help. The portal was opened by someone; so they can open it again. You just need to stay calm._

The cat's eyes suddenly shot over to him and narrowed. "Guys, look at this," she said, beckoning the bear and the lizard over. They turned to look at Mikey and fell silent.

"That's spooky," the lizard said, staring at Mikey. "He looks really similar...but how's that possible? Weeeeird." Their stares bored into Mikey and made him feel uncomfortable.

"So, uh, thanks," Mikey said, clearing his throat. "For, y'know, saving me n'stuff."

"No problemo my man!" the lizard said with a sudden smile. Mikey returned it with his own, rather weak smile, but the lizard didn't seem to take notice. "See guys! It's like mom always says-" the lizard fluttered his eyes and cleared his throat. "Making friends is always better than making enemies."

"Stop it, _Simba_," the bear said disapprovingly as he scowled. The lizard shot the polar bear a death glare.

"That ain't my name and you know it!" the lizard pouted.

"Well my name isn't- not ain't, _isn't- _Elsa either," the bear retorted. "You start calling me my real name and I'll stop calling you Simba."

"Oh, how absolutely _cold _of you!" the lizard said melodramatically, putting one webbed hand on his forehead. "You've frozen my heart!" The bear grunted and gave the lizard a light punch. The lizard returned it with a shove, and the two of them started to have a little push-war.

"Don't mind them, they're idiots," the cat said, rolling her amber eyes skyward. The tussle must not have lasted long, because when Mikey turned away from the cat-mutant the lizard was standing in front of him with a smile.

"I'm sorry for our _terrible _manners," he said with a small bow. "Allow me to introduce your björgunarmannis- that means rescuers. First off, Björn, a.k.a Elsa."

"Just let it go, would you?" Björn snarled, showing off rows of sharp teeth.

"_Let it go, let it go…" _the lizard started to sing with a devious look. Björn slammed his face into his paw, but made no further comment on the matter.

"Ah, moving onto the lovely lady, Köttur," the lizard said, gesturing to at the calico cat.

"That isn't my name," she said in a menacing tone, giving the lizard a look that made Mikey want to step back a few paces back from her. "My name is Kurushimu."

"Sorry, my bad!" The lizard said, putting his hands up in defeat. "I slipped ok? Don't kill me, gee." The cat gave him a death glare, her ears slightly folded back. The lizard mouthed something unpleasant before he cleared his throat and turned back to Mikey.

"And finally, me!" the lizard pronounced. "I'm Dreki! You wanna see somethin' cool?" Suddenly hidden flaps folded against his neck fanned out around his head in bright warm shades of yellow and red. "Taa-daa!"

"Whoa," Mikey gaped, blinking a bit.

"And that's why we call you Simba," Björn chuckled, putting a hand over his ribcage lightly where Leonardo had kicked him previously.

"Oh, you're just jealous," Dreki sassed back. Mikey smiled a bit. These mutants were teenagers like him, and although they were in a different universe, he found some comfort in their presence. They reminded him of his own brothers slightly.

"Anyways, sorry about uh...you know. Back there, in your world," Björn said somewhat sheepishly. "I just didn't want anything dangerous coming through the portal."

"We definitely don't need any more enemies," Kurushimu muttered, still staring at Mikey in a slightly intrigued, slightly cautious look.

"It's fine dude," Mikey replied to Björn. "No harm done." He considered for a moment asking about the portal and it's origins, but he didn't quite trust these people yet, and no doubt if he brought up questions about the portal they'd bring up questions about his world. "Anyways, I haven't properly introduced myself. I'm Michelangelo, but most everyone calls me Mikey." The moment the words came out of his mouth he saw Kurushimu stiffen.

"...Michelangelo?" she asked, almost in disbelief.

"Nice to meet ya Mikey!" Dreki replied, pushing Kurushimu out of the way to shake Mikey's hand. "It's great to see a fellow reptile 'round abouts!"

"You know it!" Mikey said, the enthusiasm returning to his voice.

"If you hadn't already figured it out, we're all siblings," Dreki said, then suddenly leaned in close and whispered. "But I'm mom's favorite." Mikey laughed genuinely. He liked this guy.

"Exactly how old are you Michelangelo?" Kurushimu asked stiffly, her face still frozen in shock.

"Seventeen and goin' strong!" Mikey replied with a bright smile. He couldn't help it; Dreki's bouncy attitude was contagious. Kurushimu's eyes widened as if she'd seen a ghost.

"Awesome, I just turned seventeen too dude!" Dreki shouted. "High five!" The two of them smiled as their hands met midair. "We just _have _to have him stay over at our digs tonight!" Dreki said excitedly. "It's been like, ages since I've found a fellow teen to chill with!"

"That's great, because I have nowhere to go," Mikey said with a short laugh.

"Oh my gosh," Björn sighed. "There's two of him now."

"And you've got to meet Kurushimu's sensei-master-ninja-whatever you call him," Dreki said happily. "He's a turtle too and he looks a lot like you, only, well, older."

"Yes…" Kurushimu said, looking at Mikey with narrowed eyes. "I believe that they'd get along quite...well." Mikey didn't like her tone; it sounded like she was hiding something. But Dreki looked so excited and happy, and what other choice did he have? If it was a trap he'd have to just hope that he could spot it before they were able to set it into motion.

"Sounds great," Mikey replied, some of the bounce disappearing in his voice. "Are you all martial artists?"

"No, just Köt-I mean Kuru, over there," Dreki said, luckily catching himself before he had said Köttur. "She took a liking to it and has been at it for nearly ten years now."

"That's cool," Mikey said with a smile. "I'm a ninja too, and I'm pre-tay wicked with my nunchucks."

Suddenly Björn's little bear ears perked up atop his head. "More drones are coming," he growled softly. "We've lingered here too long."

"Wait, drones?" Mikey asked, his smile disappearing. "What do you mean, drones?"

"I'll explain them later," Dreki assured him. "Let's just say they're bad news."

"Come'on, move!" Björn growled. His eyes had turned white and he dropped down to all fours, beginning to lumber away at a quick pace.

"Tell me if you can't keep up Mikey," Dreki said. "We go pretty fast." Mikey doubted they could outrun him, but just nodded. The four of them darted away, and Mikey took notice of their surroundings with more detail now. Vine-covered, crumbling buildings rose around them like pillars of a city that had once been massive. They were running along overgrown streets and Mikey scaled a toppled over streetlamp with ease, following behind the three teenagers. It looked like some sort of scene from a post-apocalyptic movie, freaks running through an overgrown city from drones. Wherever world this was, it was not doing very well. Mikey made a mental note that finding out what had opened the portal would be his top priority.

Suddenly something caught his eyes and he slowed down a bit. A street sign stood tall at the corner, still intact, and the few letters left on it read "Bro w y". Turning the corner, Mikey stared at what was the remnants of hundreds of television screens and fluorescent signs along a huge street, crowded with stores and buildings long since abandoned. The buildings were huge skyscrapers, towering above them. Indecipherable graffiti covered the grime covered walls, old signs hanging from buildings with only half the letters left. On some of the skyscrapers there were entire chunks missing from the building and the framework was showing through. Mikey couldn't explain it, but everything about the place felt...familiar.

"Where exactly are we Dreki?" Mikey asked cautiously. He swore he had seen this place before, but that wasn't possible; they were in an alternate dimension.

"Well you are in luck!" Dreki proclaimed. "We're only in the eighth biggest city in our world! A place of elegance and finery, a place of wonder! Welcome, my friend, to New York City!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey! It's Friday, so as promised, here's another chapter! Not much to say. Quote is by V.E. Schwab.**

**I do not own TMNT.**

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_~"Plenty of humans [are] monstrous, and plenty of monsters [know] how to play at being human." ~_

* * *

His vision turned white and suddenly everything in his head was a huge, panicked mess. He was in New York. He had just crossed freaking _Broadway_ and it was in shambles. He knew that the Kraang had invaded, but they hadn't had enough time to cause that much damage, had they? And there weren't any Kraang-ified things lying around, the pink crystals shooting out of the street like he had last remembered.

All he could think was, _I need to find home. I need to find home._

Mikey turned on his heel and raced in the other direction, pumping his legs so hard they burned. He had to get down to the sewers, had to find home. Then everything would be okay. The thought was ridiculous but he didn't care. The word _home _burned in his mind and drove him to ignore the frantic shouts of the three mutants behind him. He had to see what had happened to his home.

"Don't let him get away!" Kuru growled, a deep and guttural sound, and he could hear her paws hitting the ground behind him. But he wasn't worried about her catching him. Right now he felt like he could outrun the wind. _So it was a trap, _Mikey thought ruefully. _Man, I liked them too._

"Mikey, you're going to run right into the drones!" Dreki screamed from behind, and he sounded genuinely scared for him. Maybe it was just Kuru then. He hadn't trusted her from the start though.

"You IDIOT! They're going to turn you into swiss cheese!" Björn roared.

_Swiss cheese?_

There was a sudden whirring noise from above him, and something tore into his leg at full force. Mikey screeched and fell head-over-heels onto the pavement, trying to tuck and roll but his injured leg burning with pain as he pulled it in towards his chest. It all flew by in an instant, and it felt like it had happened too quickly. Things like this were supposed to be all dramatic, put into slow motion so you could absorb every second of the shot. _Your life isn't a movie you dope,_ he chastised himself, but the thought was promptly cut off as another - Mikey could see now that it was bullets being fired at him- whizzed right past his head, missing him by mere inches. The most surprising thing was that he didn't hear a telltale 'bang' of a gunshot, just a whoosh as the bullet flew past and made a perfect hole in the wall behind him. _Oh, perfect holes, like in swiss cheese. _Mikey glanced up to see his attacker; a sleek, black object was hovering in the air with the aid of two propellers (the source of the whirring sound), and a small gun was attached to the bottom of the drone. A red dot blinked on the top of the machine and there was a little lens where a camera was hidden.

Björn came into view, running on all fours before he leapt up, snarling, and his claws came around the drone and pulled it to the ground. There was a slight buzzing noise as the metal crunched under his paws, then he slammed it into the pavement and tore out a mess of wires with his teeth.

"Michelangelo, listen to me!" Kuru suddenly appeared next to him, her paw flashing out to grab his wrist. "You have to stick with us. There are a heck a lot of more dangerous things out there, and-"

"Let go of me!" Mikey shouted furiously, then he grabbed Kuru's thumb and twisted in back in a swift motion that took him less than a second. Kurushimu yowled in pain, her grip loosening, and Mikey took the chance to strike her in the face. Leaving her stunned, he got onto his feet and started to run again, but his leg was in excruciating pain. He glanced down to see that the bullet hadn't quite hit his leg dead-on, it had only skimmed it, but blood was still dripping down his leg and with every step the ripped skin stretched uncomfortably.

"Was it something I said dude?!" Dreki shouted. "Chill out!" In his mind Mikey was trying to calculate his position in the city. If Broadway had been back there, then he needed to head...east, into Queens. Another drone whizzed out of an alleyway, but this time Mikey was prepared and he zig zagged, twisting and ducking so that he was a lot harder to aim at. Luckily, none of the bullets found their marks and Mikey flashed out his nunchucks, jumping up like a little green turtle-frog as he used the blades on his weapons to neatly slice the robot in half. Everything was going fine up until he landed on the ground, where his leg buckled underneath him and he fell ungracefully.

"Son of a-" Mikey gritted his teeth and hovered his three fingered hand over the wound in his leg.

"Mikey! Hold up!" Dreki shouted, and Mikey glanced back to see the brown lizard racing towards him. "I'm coming-"

"Dreki, stop!" Björn growled in a husky tone. "There's an off scent around here. Something's not right-"

"None of you move unless you'd like your head torn off."

Mikey froze mid-standing up as men in black, sleek armored suits suddenly came melting out of the alleyways, drones hovering above the groups heads. At their head was a huge gray and black bird-man. It had cream colored bandages wrapped around the legs and waist, along with a black linen cloth. Black marks went down it's chest and one knee was scarred irrevocably, the feathers torn off, leaving exposed, burned skin. Each arm doubled as wing, and when it's arms were down the wings folded up and stuck up straight in the air. The mutants eyes were a striking shade of blue that almost glowed they were so bright. The bird tilted it's head slightly to study Michelangelo, the small beak on its face curving into a smile.

"What do we have here? Four mice who seem to have wandered out of their hole," the bird laughed in a distinctly female voice. Her eyes drifted over to Dreki and turned hungry, making Mikey's stomach flip. But she tore her gaze away, looking over at Björn, then her eyes lighting up as they rested on Kurushimu.

"Ah, _neko no senshi_," the bird said with a sharp laugh. "Great cat warrior, student under the _ao kenshi_. Predator, as am I. I have heard much about you, young _kunoichi_." Kuru's ears laid flat against her head and she hissed, her two brothers coming to her side. Björn pulled out his gun and Dreki took out his whip, cracking it with such force that the armored men took a few steps back from the lizard.

"Then you know to fear me, _tori,_" Kuru spat, unsheathing her katanas and locking her amber eyes on the bird. "After all, I am a cat, and you a bird."

"I am a falcon, child," the bird said with a heavy accent. "A bird who would easily pluck a kitten like you out of your nest. You would be wise to keep your weapons at bay if you wish to leave alive. But enough scare-talk with fledglings such as you." The falcon's eyes narrowed as she looked back to Mikey. "My curiosity lies with the young, orange-masked turtle."

"Me?" Mikey squeaked out, pointing at himself. "As in yours truly? I don't think you've got any beef with me, no siree." Mikey laughed nervously, a wavering smile cast on his face. He glanced back at the three mutant siblings, wondering if they would come to his aid if he called on them. _Maybe Dreki. Probably not Kuru._

"He's harmless," Björn grunted dismissively. "A creature who unluckily stumbled through one of the portals. Hardly worth your attention." Mikey felt a rush of relief. So he at least had the two brothers on his side in this fight.

"Ah yes, I'm sure that he's quite harmless, given he dodged the rounds of bullets one of my drones fired and then very neatly disarmed it. Quite harmless," the falcon scoffed, reaching down and picking up the pieces of the drone in her large, clawed hand. "Only a _jukuren shita shenshi_, very skilled warrior, could have accomplished such feats. My drones are designed to kill, and anyone who can evade them is no harmless nobody." Björn and Dreki shared glances, as if asking '_what now?_'.

"Your scent is familiar. I have faced your kin, turtle warrior," the falcon said, crushing the remains of the drone in her hand casually. "But I do not recognize your face, nor your mask. I recall red, blue and purple; no orange. If you are with the ninja who plague my clan, then you are my enemy." Mikey froze. Red. Blue. Purple. His brothers were here.

"My...brothers? They're here?" Mikey choked out, looking into the blue eyes of the falcon.

"So you are brother of them," the falcon said, clenching her fists. "Youngest it would appear. Your brothers have been...how shall I say it?...a needle in my side. A bother." Mikey's anger suddenly surged. How dare this falcon, this _wretch_, attack his family? Who was she to think of herself so highly, so mightily, that she merely brushed off his brothers as a 'needle in her side'?

"I hope they're the ones who tore up your knee," Mikey said venomously. "Cause I'll make the other leg match." The falcon's eyes turned white and she screeched at his words, spanning out her wings and shooting up to him so fast that he didn't have any time to move. Her claws sunk into his shoulders and she pinned him up against the wall behind him, her face only inches away from his. One hand pinned his throat against the brick wall and the other ripped into his skin.

"How dare you insult me with such _lowly _expectations! My leg was wounded in great battle, not with your petty brothers! You are _nothing _reptile!" she growled, her eyes icy. Mikey took in a sharp breath, biting his tongue to try and dull the pain in his shoulders.

"Hey! Leave im' alone, you old crow!" Björn snarled. The falcon whipped her head around angrily, locking her eyes on the white polar bear who had his gun trained on her head. "You step away, and nobody gets hurt here, alright?"

"Foot, bring him back to base," the falcon shouted, throwing Mikey on the ground. Mikey cried out as his injured leg scraped up against the concrete and blood came dripping off his shoulders. He felt so dizzy and lightheaded...he just...could...not...think. "I'll deal with this sewer rat later. As for you three-" she whipped around to face the siblings with a slightly maniacal grin. "It looks like I've just found dinner." Mikey felt a scream building up in his throat. She couldn't be serious. She wasn't going to eat them. That was just...wrong. "Starting with you lizard!" The falcon spread out her wings and lifted off into the air, funneling upward at an increasingly fast pace. Gunshots filled with air as Björn fired off his bullets towards the gray-brown mutant spiraling into the sky, but none found their mark.

Suddenly Mikey's body was screaming with pain. He felt like there was a thousand little pins being stuck into his skin all at once. Desperately he thrashed and curled into strange positions, unable to escape the pain. He felt the scream resonating in his throat but he couldn't hear it over the high pitched buzzing that burned at his eardrums. Then as quickly as it had came, it disappeared. Michelangelo wheezed, looking up and finding that one of the armored men- Foot, apparently, as the falcon-lady had said- had a pole in his hand, little crackles of blue light coming off the end. _An electrocuter_, Mikey thought vaguely, and then the pole was jabbed into him again. Mikey screamed, trying to get up to escape from it, but the Foot soldier slammed his foot - _heh, the Foot soldier's foot- _onto his shell, pinning him down.

"Two men. Here. Now," the soldier said in a crackled voice that came out of a small speaker on his helmet. Immediately two soldiers; slightly less heavily armored; appeared. The electrocution pole drew back and Mikey gasped, parts of him still twitching from the shock. It burned; it burned like a fire consuming him inside-out. The two new soldiers each picked up one of the Mikey's arms and started to drag him out across the concrete. Mikey could see the three siblings from his position; Dreki was fighting off the hawk-woman with his whip, keeping her at bay but never actually hitting her skin. Björn was fighting off the soldiers that were closing in on them, his gun firing off with flashes and bursts of light. And Kurushimu; she was everywhere, one minute throwing shuriken at the falcon, the next taking out a group of soldiers with a few well-aimed slashes of her katana. "Michelangelo!" Kuru screeched. Her eyes locked on Mikey's, a new sort of fury in them. She charged at him, anybody in her way getting stabbed by her swords or bitten with her sharp, cat teeth.

"Sorry, but this mutant's mine!" Kuru snarled at the two soldiers dragging Mikey off. One of them immediately bailed, gracefully disappearing into an alleyway, but the other stood his ground. Although his face was masked by a helmet, Mikey could feel the fear coming off him in the air. Kuru's ears laid flat against her head and her pupils grew into slits.

"Run now or I will take your miserable head off your shoulders!" Kuru roared, dropping her katana and flashing out her claws at his chest. Three long slashes appeared in his suit, blood already gushing out. The soldier lifted up his pole, jabbing it towards the cat, but she ducked and in the same motion dived at his legs, sinking her teeth into his calf. He yelled in pain and tore away from her.

"Freak!" the soldier said in his crackly voice, and then he dashed off, following his comrade. Kuru briefly smiled a bit smugly, then turned her amber eyes down to the turtle.

"Some ninja," Kuru growled, looking down at Mikey coldly. "Can you even get up?" Mikey promptly coughed up a pool of blood, his arms shaking.

"Hey," Mikey croaked out hoarsely. "You wouldn't be any better if you had been electrocuted." Kurushimu rolled her eyes and grabbed his hands, pulling him upward, but he was hardly able to stand once she had gotten him onto both feet, forced to lean against her.

"Little help here Kuru?" Dreki shouted. He was pinned down against the street, or what was left of it, the falcon's foot claws tearing into his stomach and her beak snapping at his head, which he managed to twist and turn so that she never quite hit her mark. Bullets were flying everywhere and soldiers were constantly falling or running. A drone, one of the two that had been hovering above the group when they had come, fell out of the sky with a warped sound and crashed right in front of Mikey and Kuru.

"I will gorge on your flesh, lizard!" the bird would have been hissing if birds were capable of such noise, but it just came out as a distorted _kkack_ sort of noise.

"She's a freakin' lunatic!" Mikey said in horror. "What kinda messed up place is this?"

"Welcome to New York City," Kuru snuffed distastefully. "Try to stay here and not die, alright?" Then the calico cat darted towards her brother, leaving Mikey alone on the street. He leaned against a stray lamppost that had remained upright, watching the battle with half-closed eyes. _I'm dreaming,_ he thought vaguely to himself, watching the bird bite into Dreki's arm as Kuru pounced on top of the falcon, sinking her teeth in between its shoulders. _This is one really, really messed up dream that I'll wake up from any moment now._

Suddenly a huge form fell from the sky, crashing into the pavement with a ground-shuddering _slam. _It landed with one fist on the ground, the other held out and clutching a morningstar. A black mask was tied around his head and spikes protruded from his shoulder and shell. The dark blue skin and the green spikes were familiar, and yet different. The creature bellowed out a roar, holding up his morningstar and bringing it crashing down onto a group of unfortunate Foot. Mikey knew that mutant, although for some reason in this world he was bigger, more scarred, and now he wore more armor, a huge custom-fit leather jacket pulled over him and metal kneepads and elbow pads. And the spikes on him were bigger than he remembered. Mikey shuddered and watched in awe as the mutant brought the morningstar crashing down onto falcon-lady.

_Slash?_

Mikey took in a sharp breath before he started slipping downwards. _No, no, no- _but then he collapsed. The ground swayed under him and the sounds of battle and the crunch of bones reached his ears, a sickening chorus of death. _Just a dream. Just a dream._

But somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew it wasn't.


	5. Chapter 5

**It's Friday! (really late on Friday night granted, but still Friday!) Here is another chapter for you! Sorry if it's a little rushed, things have been c-r-a-z-y this week. Oh well, I've got another chapter up and that's what counts. Enjoy!**

**I do not own TMNT.**

All he could see was red.

It stained the pavement and it covered the bodies left on the ground. It came out of the ones still standing, the fleeing Foot soldiers and the victorious mutant siblings. Mikey wanted to puke because of the red. It wasn't a rosy red, it was a deep crimson red that smelled like death. Where was the honor in this fight? Where was the unspoken agreement that death should be avoided? Kurushimu seemed to not be affected by it as the cat reached down and ripped a piece of cloth off a fallen soldier, using it to wipe her katana blades clean. Kurushimu. The word was familiar. It was Japanese, that much Mikey knew, but he couldn't quite pin down what it meant. It bothered him.

"Are you alright?"

Mikey looked up with wide eyes at the towering figure above him. The turtle was offering him one large, clawed hand, his morningstar sheathed again. Shaking, Mikey took the oversized mutant's hand and was pulled up onto his feet.

"Slash? What happened to you...what happened to the city…" Mikey trailed off in a hoarse voice, his head spinning.

"I think the more important question is, where did you come from?" Slash rumbled, putting one hand on Mikey's shoulder. "You haven't been seen in a long time." The older turtle was looking at Michelangelo with a suspicion. Well, that answered the question of whether or not he existed in this world.

"Can you just...just take me to my brothers? Please?" Mikey pleaded in a tiny, child like voice. Slash looked at him somewhat uncomfortably, scratching his arm.

"I don't know, I haven't really been involved in their...doings...recently," the blue-green turtle replied in a slightly embarrassed tone. Before either of them could say anything more, Kurushimu came strutting over, her slitted pupils rounding out.

"You're an idiot," she quickly snapped. "You know nothing about this world. Without us around, you would have been killed. No more solo adventures, because I'm not chasing after you again like that." Mikey bit his lip, feeling just a little bit hurt at her words, even if they were true.

"Hey Slash," Björn approached and gave the old turtle a respectful nod. "I haven't seen you around in a while."

"I was over in the Bronx," Slash said with a jerk of his head to indicate the direction. "It's like a pink, crystallized hell over there."

"Manage to make any major progress?" Björn asked, curious but not prying.

"I blew up the pink freak's entire south regiment," Slash said, suddenly breaking out into a crooked, sharp-toothed smile. "If that isn't progress, I don't know what is." Björn laughed, a deep rumbling sound that came from his stomach.

"So can you take me to my brothers?" Mikey interrupted, his voice desperate. "I have to see them." Slash's easy, laid-back attitude vanished.

"I'll try Michelangelo," Slash sighed. "But I can't promise you anything. And if you do meet them, I'd be...careful. You've been gone a long time. It'll probably come as a shock, and you know how these things work. They might not take it so well."

"...what year is it?" Mikey asked suddenly, afraid of the answer.

"2032. Why?" Dreki suddenly popped into the conversation, holding his shoulder where the falcon woman had torn her claws into his skin. 2032. Either he had went forward in time or he was in some sort of alternate dimension with a time difference. Mikey didn't like either option.

"And, uh, how long exactly have I been gone?" Mikey asked, his eyes darting over to Slash.

"Bout' ten years," Slash muttered. Ten years. _Disappearing for ten years and then coming back isn't too bad, right?_ Mikey thought sarcastically to himself. This was turning out just peachy. Vaguely he wondered what had happened to...um, himself. _This is just weird._

"So...what happened to you? You look...different. Older," Mikey asked, attempting to turn the subject to lighter topics.

"I guess that's just it. I got older. Still fighting Kraang though, still on my own most of the time," Slash said with a shrug. Inwardly Mikey was relieved. At least something had remained the same. Slash was still Slash, just bigger and older and more scarred. "You've missed a lot though," he added in. "Maybe your new friends can fill you in."

"You know Slash?" Dreki asked, popping back in with a bright look. "Cool! How?" Mikey and Slash shared an uneasy glance.

"Well, he was my older brother's pet turtle…" Mikey said slowly, as if making sure each word felt right. "When he got mutated he sort of went rogue for a bit...but later on we came to a truce." _Oh yes, and he tried to kill me at least twice._ For dignity's sake, Mikey omitted that particular detail of the story. Kuru shot a glance at Slash. Slash shook his said and mouthed 'not now', but Mikey missed their silent exchange

"Well, I've gotta go off vigilante-ing," Slash said with a crooked smile. Then he paused, turning to Michelangelo. "Just be really careful Michelangelo," Slash warned. "And try not to run into Raphael first, or things will go downhill real fast." With those words, the giant mutant had leapt up onto the rooftop of a half-destroyed cafe and disappeared into the overgrown city.

. . . . .

"Home sweet home!" Dreki announced. Mikey looked the houseboat up and down. It was pretty big and it appeared to be abandoned, but he supposed that was the idea. A few boards loose here and there and the faded wood gave it the appearance of an old ship, but upon closer inspection the boat was in good shape. Björn went to the edge of the dock and pulled the last board loose with ease, bringing it over and setting it up as a bridge between the dock and the boat.

"You live on a boat? Cool," Mikey commented, but his head was still swirling with the events of the past three or four hours._ So, I've been dropped into an alternate dimension of some sort, been nearly killed at least twice, and my last conversation with my brothers was me telling Leo I hated him. I guess things could be worse._ All he wanted to do was go home._ Not like my brothers care._ The bitter thought came up in his head before he could stop it.

"Dreki, Björn, Köttur! You told me you'd be back in three hours!" A woman suddenly came out of one of the deck cabins and Mikey nearly gasped. She had a deep green skin tone and huge brown eyes. In place of hair, branches grew out of her head and upwards, like a huge tangle of wooden deer antlers. Little green leaves dotted the tips of the branches, and pink flowers were starting to bloom in the branch-hair. Her outfit was relatively simple; a purple tanktop and a pair of brown pants. But her mutant form was gorgeous, from the big brown eyes to the mysterious, almost elf-like elements of her body.

"Sorry. We got a little sidetracked, and we ran into this mutant," Kurushimu said somewhat stiffly. "And my name is Kurushimu."

"Right, I'm sorry. I still don't understand why you changed your name," the tree-woman said with a slight tsk. She came sweeping down off the boat gracefully, her poise suggesting she had once been a dancer. She flashed smiles at the three siblings, then she turned to look at Mikey, leaning in somewhat closer than he found comfortable. Her brown eyes burned into his skin. For a moment he just squirmed uncomfortably under her gaze, and then she grinned.

"You poor baby!" she cooed, putting one hand on his shoulder. "You look like you're hurt!" Her eyes flickered from the bullet wound in his upper calf to the blood trickling down his head from a scrape.

"This is our mom," Dreki grinned. "She's pretty awesome."

"And you're hurt too Dreki!" the tree woman cried out, her hand briefly hovering over his wounded shoulder. "You all need to get inside so we can take care of this. HEY ZEKE!" Mikey flinched at the roughness of her voice. "GET THE MEDICAL KIT READY!"

"Are the kids home?" a male voice shouted from inside.

"Yeah, and they've brought a friend!" tree lady yelled, a little less loudly this time.

"I'll go take care of myself," Kuru said in a low tone, shimmying around her mother and disappearing into the boat. Her mother frowned, looking a little hurt, but turned back to Mikey with the same sweet, maternal smile.

"So what's your name?" she asked.

"Michelangelo," he said with a tired smile. "But you can call me Mikey. Everyone does."

"I presume you've already met my children. I'm Syngja," she said, her voice bubbly as she led him onto the boat. "My name and my childrens names are all Icelandic. I grew up there. Well, Kuru changed hers, now it's Japanese. I don't understand that girl sometimes, with all her mysterious martial arts training. It bothers me."_ She almost talks as much as me,_ Mikey thought in amusement. Syngja would be an easy person to figure out. Her graceful figure and elf-like look suggested wisdom and mystery, but the mother was an open book, happy about, well, everything.

Mikey half-listened to her as he took in his surroundings. They had entered into a small hallway, and she was leading them past a couple of doors, into the living area. There was a rustic feel to the place, like an old cabin. A yellow, lamplike light fixture hung from the ceiling, and mismatched furniture filled the room. To his left there was a mini kitchen, complete with a rusty stove and a stained refrigerator. In the opposite corner there was a little faded circular table with five chairs of different colors and heights surrounding it. And in front of him was the comfort chairs, a loveseat and two cushioned rocking chairs arranged in a little semi-circle in the corner, a coffee table with a replaced leg in the middle of the arrangement. The wood plank walls and floors finished the cabin feel.

"Just find a chair and make yourself comfortable," Syngja said, motioning at the chairs. Mikey noticed her long, wooden, spindly fingers and admired them for a moment. She was truly a delicate creature. Then she whisked off back down the hallway. Mikey settled on the sea green rocking chair, feeling slightly uncomfortable in this strange home that he had been welcomed into so quickly. A little safe haven in the midst of destruction. Perhaps the only one.

Syngja came flying back into the room, light on her feet like a ballerina. Following her was, to Mikey's shock, a human man. He had black hair that was unevenly cut and a recently shaved beard. His eyes were a bright blue and he had laugh lines creasing his face. He wore a simple outfit, much like Syngja's, only his pants were big, tan cargo ones and he had a dark green t-shirt. He almost looked like he belonged in the army.

"This is my husband, Zeke," Syngja said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "Zeke, this is our guest, Mikey."

"Nice to meet ya," Zeke said in a low voice, tipping his head slightly and holding the rim of an invisible hat.

"Um, same to you sir," Mikey stuttered. A human man and a mutant woman. He supposed he had seen stranger things in his lifetime, but this was something that didn't just happen everyday. Then again Syngja was a rather stunning mutant.

Syngja kneeled next to Mikey's chair and pursed her lips as she studied his leg, ripped open by the bullet. She took a wet washcloth, ripped and old, and wiped off the dried blood. Mikey sat patiently, having been through this enough times to know that squirming ended in hot tempers and frustration. Usually it was Donnie doing this, and Mikey felt a quick pang of sadness at the thought.

"You get shot by a drone?" Zeke asked, breaking the silence. He had sat in the maroon chair next to him and was sifting through the box of medical items. Mikey nodded, his eyes darting from Zeke to the floor. He felt an unexplained surge of shyness.

"Those things have been taking out people all over the city," Zeke sighed. "It's a dangerous gamble, living here." Syngja hummed in agreement as she smeared some sort of oil over the wound, then started wrapping bandage cloth around it, her brown eyes focused and her movements precise. Dreki bounced into the room, plopping down on the couch and looking at his mom expectantly.

"One moment honey," Syngja said, bringing her attention to the wound on Mikey's shoulder, where the falcon lady had dug her claws through his skin. "You know the rule-"

"Yes yes, guests first," Dreki said nonchalantly, leaning back into the couch. "But don't take too long or I might bleed to death." He finished off with a teasing smirk that made Syngja roll her eyes.

"This city is a wreck…" Mikey murmured quietly to himself. Sad looks crossed everyone's faces, and the conversation died. Mikey slowly zoned out and before he had realized it, he had all his wounds cleaned up, Dreki had been fixed up, and he was left alone in the small living room. He found himself exhausted, and the turtle laid down on the couch, curling himself up and facing the back of the sofa. And although he was healed and content, he could feel the empty place in his chest where his brothers were supposed to be. Did they feel the same way back at home? Did they miss him? Honestly, Mikey couldn't say.

And what about his brothers in this world?

He had been gone for a whole ten years apparently, doing what he didn't know. But ten years was a long time...did they miss him too? Did they still feel an emptiness whenever they thought about him? Either way, Mikey knew that finding his brothers would be his first and foremost mission in this universe. Once he found them, then things would be right again._ And to think you wanted to run away from home,_ Mikey chastised himself. _Now you're clinging onto whatever bits of home you can find._ Slowly, his eyelids sunk lower and lower and he curled in his hands to his chest, feeling his conscious slipping.

"You are supposed to be dead," A voice whispered the words above him, and Mikey tried to put a name to the voice, but he was too tired to concentrate. _I'm supposed to be dead? What does that mean?_ But his tired mind couldn't linger on the question too long and he finally fell into a fitful sleep, full of nightmares with blurry shapes and screaming. Only one voice rang clear in his dreams, and it said in a dark tone;

"You are supposed to be dead."


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, so first of all I would like to say a huge SORRY to everyone reading this. I said Friday's, and that was going great, and then I suddenly just died. I literally rewrote this at least five times to get to this point, and I want to apologize for skipping out the last couple of weeks. In some sort of attempt to make up for it, this chapter is twice as long as usual. Anyways, hope you enjoy it despite it's lateness.**

**Oh, and read the note at the very end! It's important! I NEED YOUR OPINION! :)**

**I do not own TMNT.**

After a night of restless sleep, Mikey awoke to a warm house and the smell of good food. The rest of the house had awoken before him; Kuru had settled herself on a chair in the corner, bent in on herself and meticulously scraping away at a piece of wood. Björn and Dreki were at the small dining table, throwing playful banters between each other with plates full of food set down in front of them. Syngja hummed to herself, a few flowers falling out of her branch-hair and floating down serenely to the floor, and her husband Zeke was rinsing off dishes.

"You're so gross!" Björn rumbled, lightly pushing Dreki.

"Like you're any better," Dreki rolled his eyes, a grin tugging at his lips.

"Seriously though, you don't just eat any random bug you come across," Björn retorted, sticking out his tongue and making a disgusted look. "That's disgusting. Do you have any idea where those things could have been?"

"Hey, at least I don't eat raw fish," Dreki said, leaning back into the chair. "Isn't raw meat supposed to make you puke or get worms or something?"

"But they taste really good!" Björn said, shoving a piece of toast into his mouth. His small bear-ears twitched lazily on top of his head as he reached up to scratch the back of his neck, chewing on the toast with his mouth open.

"Good morning!" Mikey started as he snapped his attention away from the conversation between the brothers to find Syngja smiling broadly at him, her green eyes sparkling. "Are you hungry?"

"Well-" Mikey began to speak, but she didn't give him a chance to finish.

"Of course you're hungry!" she said, bouncing off towards the kitchen in a floaty sort of way. "We've got toast with jelly, and some blueberries and eggs. Do you not like any of that?"

"Sounds good to me," Mikey said with a smile and a thumbs up.

"Look who finally got up," Kuru said quietly from the corner, not taking her eyes off the wood. "You slept late." Mikey felt his cheeks flush slightly. Everything the cat-woman said had a threatening tone to it, and it put him off. His eyes drifted to her wrists, noticing the bandages that had not been there the previous night. Dark splatters stained the cloth that had been neatly wrapped and tied around her fur, but she didn't notice the younger turtle staring.

"We're going downtown today to meet up with some friends of mine, and then it's drone-crushing time," Dreki butted in with a devious-looking smirk. "Right Kuru?"

"You mean _you're_ going downtown," Kuru replied shortly, putting her wood and knife down on a table and standing up. "I'm going under. More training."

"Aww man! But it's not as much fun without you!" Dreki whined, looking honestly disappointed. His already wide eyes grew a bit bigger. "Can't you skip training just this once-"

"No," Kuru snapped, picking up dual katana blades from the corner of the room and carefully strapping them to her back. "I need to discuss a few matters with sensei today. Urgent ones." Dreki groaned and stuck out his lower lip. Silently, Mikey was relieved that the cat wasn't coming with.

"And you," Kuru said sharply, turning to face Mikey and pointing at him accusingly, as if she had read his thoughts. "Don't do anything stupid, and don't get yourself killed." Mikey shrunk down a bit, a shaky grin on his face as he nodded.

"Uh-huh. Will do," Mikey laughed nervously. The calico cat narrowed her eyes slightly before she padded softly to the ladder, scaling it easily and disappearing above. Mikey watched her leave, his smile fading slowly and his body untensing.

"What was with her?" Björn muttered, furrowing his non-existent eyebrows.

"I think she hates me or something," Michelangelo replied, shrugging ever so slightly as he stood up off the couch and crossed the room to join Dreki and Björn.

"She's probably just a bit nervous, that's all. She doesn't like meeting new people," Dreki replied casually. "Some sorta social disorder or something."

"Here you are," Syngja smiled and placed a plate full of food in front of Mikey before she whisked away dreamily, her thin figure so light and delicate that Mikey felt like he could literally pick her up and crack her at the waist with little effort. A bit of sunshine flooded into the house through some small windows near the tops of the walls. Mikey took a small handful of blueberries and poured them into his mouth, thinking only for a moment before he spoke.

"Just out of curiousity, how did you guys, y'know…" Mikey motioned around wildly with his arms. "Become a family or whatever." Dreki's amber eyes flickered over to Björn, then up at a half-broken clock on the wall, his look contemplative.

"I think we've got some time to burn, right Björn?" Dreki asked his brother with a hopeful look.

"Guess we do," Björn grunted somewhat grudgingly, slouching back into his chair and lowering his large white head into his chest. "Go ahead." Dreki smiled broadly, like a child who's just been told he can have a piece of candy.

"Well Mikey, our story is a pretty weird one," Dreki began, rubbing his hands together. "And it starts in a church."

. . . . .

A girl with long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail sat in the back pews of a large cathedral, flipping through a book of prayers. Her eyes roamed over the pages, but she didn't join in the song the rest of the assembly was singing. Instead her eyes continually flickered to the door. Her hands were wet. Her eyes were a light shade of green and a strand of hair fell in front of her face. Irritably, she pushed it back behind her ear. How had she gotten into this situation? Her heart was pounding so loudly in her chest that she swore the people next to her kept sending her concerned glances. _You're in a church,_ she reminded herself matter-of-factly. _Nobody arrests people in a church. _She just had to stay in large crowds, blend in. After church, people would be swarming out, heading home. It'd be easy enough to just jump into a crowd who was walking home and make her way out of the area stealthily. Nobody would notice a girl like her. She was the very definition of a typical-looking American. The cops weren't actually looking for her, but sooner or later someone would figure out that technically, she had never entered this country according to the records. _You should have just waited until you could get your passport thing or whatever it's called, _the girl scolded herself. _Then you could have been a normal, legal citizen like the rest of these people._

Her drifting, darting eyes suddenly latched onto a flashing pink light in the wall to her right. It was a color straight from a crayon box, nothing like you'd find naturally. Curiously, she watched it. Perhaps it was some sort of camera. Every public place had them now. Or maybe it was a panel for the sound control. But the color was too pink, sickeningly so. It was almost unpleasant to look at. The churchgoers voices rose around her, at the very apex of the worshiping song. A few of the more emotional ones, the people who usually sat near the front, broke down into tears, like it was some sort of revelation even though they had sang the exact same thing at the last congregation. The voices of hundreds of people swelled around her, blocking out everything but the steady thrum of the note that seemed to last forever, and she couldn't help but tilt her head slightly upwards, as if about to pray.

Before she knew what was happening, a wave of air hit her like a grenade and she fell over with a scream. Her body slammed against the ground and she threw out her hands just in time to catch herself. The palms burned with the force of her body pushing against them. A piece of brick flew past her and nicked her shoulder, ripping a scream from her throat. She rolled underneath the pew seats, gasping for breath with the strength she had left. The singing still reverberated against the stone walls, but was quickly being drowned out by screams. The Icelandic girl watched with wide eyes as a pair of black dress shoes walked calmly into view. She tried to look up at the owners face, but could only see up to his knees, covered in faded striped dress pants.

Somebody had _blown up _a _church_

The gruesome fact sunk in with a sense of finality, and the girl huddled in on herself as if trying to become part of the shadows. These were not the cops.

The shoes paused for a moment and she held her breath, praying; quite ironic to be praying in a church that had been destroyed moments ago; that he wouldn't take notice of her. Her prayers were not answered. He didn't lean over to drag her out like a normal person would. She yelped as the pew seat above her was smashed and little splinters of wood rained down on top of her. Looking up, she got a clear look at his face. He was a square-jawed man with neatly combed black hair, emotionless eyes and thick eyebrows. He wore a black suit and a blue tie, like maybe he was just headed off to work and casually stopped by to blow up a church.

"Let go of me!" the woman screamed, her voice cracking in a way it hadn't since she was a middle schooler. The strangely blank-faced man just grabbed her by the legs and flung her over his back like she was a sack of cotton, her face smacking against his stiff back.

"Hey! I have rights!" she screeched, tearing his back with her nails. Her stomach flipped with dread. No, she did not have rights. She wasn't an Icelandic citizen, she wasn't an American citizen. She was a nobody that the world wouldn't notice had disappeared. Maybe that's why he took me, she pondered, but then again, how would he know? The large-framed businessman carried her through a gaping hole in the wall, walking past screaming, scrambling people like they didn't exist. Then they were out in the lot, and she was being thrown into a white van. How very stereotypical.

"You idiots!" somebody shouted in the driver's seat of the van. "You couldn't have just _walked in the door _like a regular person instead of blowing a giant hole in the wall?!"

"Kraang does not see the point the one known as you is making," a monotone voice replied. The first voice groaned and then the doors of the van were shut, leaving her in complete darkness and silence. The girl stared up at the ceiling, breathing in and out slowly as the van rumbled to life. _Well, at least the cops won't get you._

The trip was short, silent and utterly dark. Every once and a while she would slide to one side of the van or the other as they turned roads or came to a stop. She didn't try to stop herself or get up, just laid on the floor, staring and resigning herself to her fate. It smelled musky in the van, like animals had been transported in the vehicle. She might have been in van ten minutes or ten hours, she had completely lost track of any sense of time. But at some point the van shuddered to a halt and the thrumming of the engines ceased. The same thick-eyebrowed, straight-faced suit man came to the edge of the van and pulled her out, poking her along with the end of a large gun and forcing her up the steps of a high-rise skyscraper. Once inside, a woman with a cheery face greeted them as if nothing were wrong about this picture, a man leading a charred and miserable looking girl into a building with a gun pressed against her back.

"I'll call Floor 30 and let them know you're on your way," the woman bumbled out, picking up a phone and keeping the same false smile plastered on her face. The man behind her nodded approvingly and shoved her into an elevator with his gun, following suit. The woman watched as the two iron doors closed in front of her and they headed upwards to her doom. Floor by floor flew past until she was at Floor 30 and being shoved down another hallway, into a small room, only the man didn't follow her in this time. The door was closed and locked before he left her alone. She sank down into the corner and patiently waited, considering her situation. Back in Iceland, things like this didn't happen. They were a close-knit sort of almost family, the entire country, and kidnappings were uncommon. Usually when one did occur, the kidnapper confessed within a week out of guilt. But this wasn't Iceland, this was New York, where crime thrived like a polar bear thrives in the Arctic.

_Not in Kansas anymore, are we Dorothy?_

Days passed uneventfully in her metal prison. Food was served three times a day, and it was simple but satisfying; sandwiches and water. Over the course of seven days though, she grew to hate the taste of bologna, the same meat they put on her food every time. She'd have given anything for a taste of hot dish, or eggs, or something other than a bologna sandwich. Nonetheless she ate it every time, out of hunger. Most of the time she spent studying the patterns of the walls or the texture of her skin. Her hair became greasy. Her body started to smell unpleasant. By day seven she would have traded all of her bologna for a warm shower and some soap. Her only source of comfort was a lone leaf of an oak tree that had made its way in with her somehow. She stroked it, rubbing her thumb along it even as it dried up and started to shrivel.

And then Kraang came back.

She was carted off down the hallway in a half-aware daze, hardly processing it when five others joined her. Door after door after door, all exactly the same, passed by. More Kraang came to join Kraang. They all looked the same, monotone expression and suit, all clone copies to a point. _Clone troopers, _the woman thought with a small giggle. _I've been kidnapped by clone troopers._

They walked out into a large, open area and the woman let out an audible gasp. There were crayon-box pink lights everywhere, and chrome plated nearly everything in the room. Little green bubbles hung from the ceiling, made of glass. But what disturbed her the most were the beings in the room. Little pink blobs with green eyes and wide, sharp-toothed grins hovered around in crafts, tentacles hanging off the edge as they lazily drifted from place to place. The noise they made was a screeching, gargling one that chilled her straight to the core. They were brains, she realized, little brains with eyes and mouths floating on hovercraft. She shuddered, looking away from them, and paused when her eyes caught a scene from behind a glass wall.

A pretty little calico kitten sat on a white table inside the room, licking her fur casually. Behind her, two frazzled looking human scientists talked in hushed tones, then one split off, grabbing a needle from the supply table in the corner. Inside the plunger was a sickish, glowing green-blue liquid that looked like something straight from a lava lamp. Walking over to the cat, he positioned it right between the feline's shoulders and pushed it in. The cat struggled at the shot, but then the man drew the needle back out and stepped back a few paces. The woman came to full stop to observe what would happen.

She immediately wished she hadn't.

It started with the kitten twitching a bit, its head moving in jerky motions, and within seconds the poor animal was writing on the table, yowling so loud that it broke through the fortified glass barrier. The frazzled Icelander flinched and drew back a bit from the scene of the suffering animal. Why were they putting the poor thing in such a state? Suddenly the cat's spine started to elongate. Its ears grew bigger and its legs stretched out. The entire kitten was fluctuating, its eyes wild as it screeched, lifting its head upwards and showing off rows of deadly sharp teeth. Its soft tail whipped around crazily as it grew bigger, and by the time the stretching and screeching was done, it was no longer a kitten standing in front of her. It was a child. A poor child, no more than five years old, who looked like a calico cat. The creature had the physique of a human, but the ears and tail and fur of a cat. It lifted up its eyes and locked them onto her, the woman observing with horror from the other side of the glass, peering right into her soul.

"Kraang commands the one known as Syngja to continue moving in the direction Kraang has indicated," one of the dead-fish-faced men poked Synja with his gun and she stumbled forwards, losing sight of the cat child.

Was this her own fate?

Each glass walled room they passed held new horrors; a porcupine man who had torn apart the scientist he was with; a woman, just like her, screaming as the blue-green glowing liquid was injected into her skin; a pair of animal children like the cat, a polar bear and a lizard, who huddled together in the corner, clinging to each other as the white lab coated men talked in hushed tones. Then a craft guided by a pink blob brain floated past, bodies of dead, deformed animal-men piled onto it with glassy eyes and drooling mouths. She shuddered and closed her eyes. This was her fate. She only hoped she would be one of the ones hiding in the corner, not the ones being hauled off towards the morgue.

"The one known as Syngja is to enter the place called Room B145," the man said in a utterly monotone voice. With an expression hard enough to crush rocks, the Icelandic woman walked into her own glass-walled room. Hiding from cops was going to be the least of her problems after this.

Syngja walked in, the door shutting behind her, and sat down on the center table, staring out the window-wall blankly, as if she were just coming here for a check up and going through motions she had done before. A dark haired scientist, looking like he had slightly Hispanic roots, was waiting for her, fiddling with needles and liquids on counter. Syngja noticed how his hands were shaking and his blue eyes faded. He looked up and an instant wave of dread seemed to fill him to the brim. Unknown to the woman, he was wondering to himself why he had gotten a human, one of his own. He couldn't have gotten a rat or a lizard or a dog; they were easier to block out, easier to pretend that it didn't matter when he watched them writhe and scream, and eventually die in most instances. But it wasn't so easy to pretend with the humans.

He didn't speak a word as his fumbling fingers prepared the needle. Syngja didn't ask any questions, didn't cry or beg or plead. She wouldn't allow him the pleasure of seeing her broken. Instead she bit her tongue and ground her teeth, repeating _I will not die. I will not die, _over and over again in her head like a mantra. _I will not die. I will not die. _Everything was too shiny and clean. Only a place that became messy often was kept this tidy. She imagined what the room would look like after a week of no cleaners. It would smell like blood and animals. There would be bloodstains scattered all over the shiny chrome surfaces. Chunks of fur and skin would lay on the floor, slowly rotting away. This was what a room like this was supposed to look like. Instead it was tended to and kept clean so that the next person would have a flower-scented floor to die on. The woman reached in her pocket and stroked at the leaf that had somehow made its way into this world of monsters and metal with her.

The scientist brushed back her hair, his fingers surprisingly gentle. She closed her eyes. _I will not die. _The needle was positioned at the base of her neck, at her collarbone. She could feel the cold metal pressing up against her skin. _I will not die. _Then there was a small burst of pain where the needle went in, blue-green liquid draining into her veins and burning. Her hand clutched around the dry leaf, crackling it and breaking it apart. The liquid flowed through her veins like a toxin, taking her and ripping her apart, cell by cell, then putting her back together in a different order than before. She screamed, a noise that split the air like a knife and ripped through her throat. It burned like she was on fire, but at the same time it froze like she was plunging into a frozen lake. She hugged herself and clawed at her shoulders so deeply that blood began to flow freely out of her. She could feel herself changing; becoming taller, thinner, more lightweight. Her skin was turning from light tan to slight brown, then an even darker shade of brown, and rough swirls were replacing the smooth texture of the now-brown flesh. Her hair grew heavy and then started to float upwards, as if gravity had decided to take a break for a moment. She could feel her hair twisting around and hardening, becoming something solid atop her head. Her fingers were stretched out until she thought they would pop off, becoming long and spindly. She was starting to feel exhilarated. The pain was still there, but it felt like a good sort of burning pain, like a pain after you've gone running. She clenched her fists and lifted up her head, opening two green eyes with huge, black round pupils. Then she let out a roar. Not a scream; a roar. Like something inside her had burst and was pouring out of every inch of her body. And it felt _good._

Then her new body settled into place and she gasped, falling off the table and landing on the floor, a small groan escaping her lips. She was stiff and it felt like her skin creaked with every movement she made.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry oh God…." The Hispanic-looking scientist broke down into hysterics, no longer able to pretend it didn't matter. This was a human, a helpless woman, and he had tried to pretend it didn't _matter. _Of course it mattered. Syngja picked herself up on her feet, feeling the new strength in her bones. Looking down at her hands, she came to a quick realization. They were made of bark. She was a tree.

There was the sound of a suction door opening, and then the Kraang came back in, his face straight as always.

"Kraang is what is known as displeased with the resulting of mutation," the man said in a monotone voice. "Kraang wonders why ones known as scientists are failing to perfect that which is known as mutagen."

"I can't do this anymore!" the scientist screamed, pulling at his hair. "Just kill me already! KILL ME!"

"If that is what the scientist known as Zeke is wanting," The Kraang said, ever monotone and emotionless. He lifted up his gun and Syngja saw for the first time what it was the gun did. Five pink lights flashed to life as the gun made a thrumming noise. Zeke was on his hands and knees and shuddering like a child. Syngja didn't even think. She just did.

Her branchy arm came forward and shot out, growing of its own accord and slamming into the man, knocking him against the wall with a metallic thud. She marveled for a moment at how she had just thrown her arm forward, wanting to hit him, and the arm had shot out. Then the tree woman come running at him, her arm pinning him against the wall and growing shorter as she came nearer. Syngja's greatest power at this point was her tree limbs, so she brought her other arm forward and it shot out, pinning him with both. She came close to him, watching him struggle against her, and then her fingers branched out, becoming longer and longer until she was able to wrap them around his chest like a cage. Then she squeezed. She expected to hear ribs cracking and blood gushing, but instead as she held him tighter and tighter he dented and sparked, until finally his eyes flickered and turned black.

"He was a robot," she said incredulously, letting him drop to the floor in a crumpled, twitching heap. The scientist looked up with wide blue eyes, tears threatening at the corners. Syngja didn't give him the time to apologize again. This was their chance.

"Run," she said, staring at him, and then she whisked out the sliding door, her green shirt torn and showing too much, if there was anything left to hide. The calico cat child burned in her mind. She had to save the children she had seen. If nobody else, the children had to be spared from this fate. A pang of guilt hit her. She should stay here and try to save all of them, try to set the entire unit free. She should be a hero, willing to die.

Syngja didn't want to die.

She counted the doors, three down to reach the bear and lizard. She didn't even hesitate; she flew her arms forward and they grew of their own will, branches binding together to create one thick branch of an arm that literally burst a hole in the door, then it snapped back into place, becoming her normal sized, branchy arm again. She stepped through the hole and took a quick inventory of the room. A scientist looked up at her in surprise, a woman this time, and her blonde hair whipped into her face. The bear and the lizard hugged each other in the corner the bear showing his teeth and engulfing the smaller lizard in his furry arms.

"Who the-" Syngja didn't wait to see if the scientist would be reasonable. She made a guttural sound from her throat and whipped out her arm, willing it to grow thicker and tightly bound as she swung it at the girl's head, making it jerk to the side and her entire body went flying. She hit the ground with a thud, and Syngja noted with relief that she was still breathing. Probably under a concussion, but still breathing.

"You two, follow me," Syngja said, pointing at the bear and lizard. They immediately stood up and did as she told. Whether it was because she was a mutant like them or because she had just killed the woman experimenting on them she couldn't tell, but she was grateful they listened without question. Syngja jumped out of the hole in the wall and saw that Zeke had followed her her, looking lost and distant.

"Zeke, watch them," she said, indicating at the bear and lizard. Zeke looked a bit scared of the two children as the bear waddled up to him, sniffing his leg. Syngja turned and dashed down the hall, chrome plated door after chrome plated door until she had counted a total of five, then turned and threw herself against the door, the entire thing coming off its hinges. Instead of finding a similar scene to the one with the bear and the lizard, Syngja found herself in a totally different environment. She was standing above a red-haired man who laid on the floor, claw marks in his head and chest. His eyes were dulled and the entire room had a surreal feel. The cat child panted, glaring with all the hatred of the world.

That was not how a child should be.

The cat turned to face Syngja, her eyes narrowing. "I killed him," she hissed, her ears flattening. "I'll kill you too."

"Not if you want to get out of here," Syngja replied. The cat's ears came back up and she considered her for a moment, then some sort of silent agreement came between them and they both turned and ran. As they passed Zeke and the other children, Syngja scooped up the lizard child and grabbed Zeke's hand. The bear and the cat had no trouble keeping up with them as they twisted around corners, dispatching anything they met with ease. Between Syngja's branch arms and Kuru's natural instinct on using her claws, they left behind a trail of crushed robot men with blank faces.

Rushing out of building, the cool night air wafted around them and Syngja breathed it in greedily. The lizard whined quietly and clung to her neck as she cradled him in her arms. The bear grunted and went down to all fours, white fur rippling under muscles and his jaws opening and closing in a pant. The cat leapt around silently, her amber eyes flashing, and Zeke ran along as if in a daze. The five of them had no place to go, no place to find shelter, only each other and the night sky.

Somehow, Syngja knew they'd be alright.

* * *

**So, I'm trying to figure out where I want to go with this, and I'm honestly a little lost, so I'd like your opinion! Which one of his brothers do you want Mikey to meet first? Please respond in the comments! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Guess what? It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on- ahem. (that song is so dumb but way too catchy) So, I hope you're all enjoying the fact that it's April and winter's nearly over, I sure am! And so far in my poll we've got three votes for Donatello and two votes for Raphael. If you haven't given me feedback on that yet, please do! The chapter is coming up pretty quickly and I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on which one of Mikey's brothers he should meet first! **

**In this chapter I'm introducing a couple of new characters that might be familiar to some of you. First of all there's a white arctic fox from the IDW comics; maybe some of you have heard of her? Then there's a girl that's appeared in several of the comics and I think in the other two television shows named Angel. I'm just trying to bring in a few characters from other incarnation's of TMNT because I thought it'd be fun. I've practically read every synopsis of the IDW comics on the TMNT wiki this week. Ugh, now I want the comics and blah blah blah...let's just get to the story, I've rambled long enough.**

**I do not own TMNT.**

Mikey's legs pumped furiously as he darted across the street, tumbling silently behind a trash bin and holding as still as a rock. After Dreki's story about how him and his family had come together, the three boys had headed out into the city. Somewhere along the line their trip had turned into a game of catch-me-if-you-can between the three of them, and the two were surprisingly good at hiding despite claiming to have only taught themselves with a few tips from Kuru. A flash of white on the roof caught his attention and he ducked further behind the trash bin, forcing his breaths to be slow. As a ninja, his natural element was hiding. Björn on the other hand was too bulky for much hiding, so he spent more time chasing the other two down. The white shape on the roof paused, raising it's muzzle in the air.

"So you're from some sort of alternate dimension?" Björn suddenly came flying off the roof at Mikey, and the orange-masked turtle darted out of the way as the giant white bear crashed into the concrete, a large axe in hand.

"Yeah," Mikey replied, edging around him. "When did you get an axe?"

"I bring it with sometimes," Björn shrugged his large furry shoulders. "It comes in handy when I lose my gun or for close-range combat. But anyways, if you're from an alternate dimension, then have you met alternate versions of us?"

"...No," Mikey admitted. "Not yet at least. I know Slash in my world though."

"Family?" Björn questioned, tilting his head.

"Just a friend," Mikey said, tossing his nunchucks lazily in his hands. "I mean, we weren't on the best of terms, but things are okay between us." His laid back attitude covered up the anxiety gnawing at his stomach. Every moment here was another moment away from his own home, and his brothers in this dimension could be anywhere, in any condition. What if one of them had died? The thought was sickening, so the young turtle cast it aside.

"You got any family?" Björn asked in his gravelly voice, swinging his axe back so it rested behind him on his shoulders.

"Yeah. Some brothers," Mikey's eyes suddenly latched onto an object that was reflecting off light from underneath an old, wet newspaper. Tuning out the bear as he rambled about some thing or another, Mikey bent over and pulled it out. It was a small object that fit neatly in his hand and had four pointed tips. Michelangelo immediately recognized it as a shuriken. His heart beating wildly, he held it up to the light and turned it between his fingers. Sure enough, the five petaled flower of the Hamato clan was etched into the center, five perfectly symmetrical circles on each petal and one in the center.

"What'd you find there?" Björn asked, his light blue eyes narrowing slightly.

"Shuriken," Mikey replied tartly, tucking it into his belt. "A throwing star." Something in his eyes must have suggested that he was uptight, because Björn's face quickly softened.

"I know this must be pretty...nerve-racking. I mean, I have no idea what or who is gonna set you off," Björn replied, putting one large furry paw on Michelangelo's shoulder. "But you seem like a good guy. I'll help you in whatever way I can."

"Thanks," Mikey said with a smile. "You seem like a good guy too."

"Man, you guys aren't even _trying,_" Dreki announced, jumping into the alleyway and causing Mikey to jump. "I call a rematch, for your sakes."

"Nice," Mikey said with a grin. "I didn't even hear you coming."

"There won't be time for a rematch, so I guess you win little brother," Björn said, ruffling Dreki's head affectionately. Dreki looked sad at the news for a moment, but then his eyes lit up with realization.

"Man, I can't wait to see Allie and Angel!" Dreki said happily, his garnet-red neck flap fanning out slightly and honey-yellow eyes sparkling. Björn sent him a knowing glance, but didn't comment on his enthusiasm. Mikey caught on fairly quickly and nearly smirked. One of them was someone _special_ for Dreki.

"Come'on, if we get there late Allie is gonna chew us out," Björn replied. The threesome walked out onto the street and down the middle of the overgrown concrete road. It felt strange, walking around in daylight and not having to hide from anything. The normally busy streets of New York were in dead quiet. Nature had begun to crack at the hardened stone and take apart the works of mankind. A robin poked around in the dirt near an old bakery, pulling a worm out of the recently wet soil, meaning it must have rained last night.

"This is the place," Björn rumbled, stopping at the front of a small store, hidden between two large supermarkets. The robin flew away with its prize clutched in its beak as they approached. The dirt-covered, rusted sign read "Bakery" in a cheerful, bright pink letters, and the windows were boarded over. The place vaguely reminded him of Murakami's, and Mikey wondered if the old man had survived in this world. He was so nice to them, it'd be a shame if he hadn't. Plus his food was really really good.

"Try not to come in too suddenly," Dreki warned Mikey, sheathing his whip. "Allie gets a little jumpy, and she might attack you."

"Uh, alright," Mikey said, following the lizard's example and putting away his nunchucks. Björn slid the axe back into place on his back, and then the two brothers came into the shop, Mikey following slowly behind them. A little bell rang as they came in, and the young turtle nearly jumped out of his shell at the noise. This whole 'she might attack you' business was putting him on edge. The bakery was small, but in surprisingly good shape. Two little tables lied in front of the two windows facing outside, with chairs on either side of them. A counter stretched across the width of the shop, empty glass cases still clean enough where it looked as if they were waiting for more sweets to be placed inside them. The room was dark, light only coming in from outside. Dreki hopped up onto the counter and peeked over the edge.

"Angel," he said quietly, his amber eyes darting around. "Hey Angel, it's meeeee."

"Maybe we got here first," Björn snorted, sitting down at one of the tables. "That'd be something new."

"You're right, that'd be new." A blur suddenly jumped down from the rafters, tackling Dreki. The two disappeared behind the counter, Dreki yelping with surprise. Mikey brought his hand to his belt, hovering over his weapons, and his eyes darted upward towards the rafters to look for the second person.

"You're looking the wrong way chump," a female voice chuckled, and then Mikey was suddenly being kicked forwards from something behind him. The turtle screamed and flew into the counter, grunting when his stomach was hit right on the edge. The female voice laughed again, a barky noise.

"Who is this?" she asked in a light tone.

"A friend," Björn rumbled. Mikey groaned and turned around to get a good look at his 'attacker'. Before him stood a white fox mutant, with amber eyes and purple markings around them so it looked like she had a mask. She wore a tattered brown scarf and bandages around her arms and legs, standing a few inches taller than himself. She was like a cardinal in a flock of sparrows in this light, her white fur almost glowing in the darkness. The minute she looked away from Björn and back at him, the smile faded from her face.

"Wait a minute," she growled. "Who _is _this?"

"Michelangelo is his name," Björn said casually, not detecting her sudden change of tone. "We don't know much about him other than he came from some sort of alternate dimension."

"...you don't say?" the white fox said curiously, tilting her head. It was about then when Mikey took notice of her tail. It was a huge, fluffy white mass that flicked back and forth behind her. Heck, it was almost as big as the rest of her body.

"Whoa, that is a _killer _tail," he blurted out, unable to stop himself from smiling. "I mean, you could use that as a bed!"

"Uh huh," the fox said, looking unamused at his comment. "So I've been told. You said your name was Michelangelo?"

"Yeah, but you can call me Mikey," Mikey said cheerfully, extending a hand. "And you are…?"

"Alopex," she replied firmly, putting her little white paw in his large three-fingered hand. So far Alopex seemed alright. A little snarky, but alright.

"Oh, they brought a friend?" The blur that had tackled Dreki earlier suddenly popped out from behind the counter, giving Michelangelo a clear look at her. She was a human teenage girl, with long black hair and purple highlights. She had several piercings and her skin was African American. Dreki came up next to her, brushing off his arms.

"Yeah," Alopex replied, jerking her head towards Mikey. "Check it out." The girl easily scaled over the counter, showing off her tall black boots, and then landed in front of Mikey. Her brown eyes narrowed as she studied him. For a moment they just stood there, the girl scrutinizing him as he fidgeted uncomfortably under her gaze.

"Looks like a turtle," she drawled out, flipping her hair and smacking a piece of gum in her mouth. "Whas his name?"

"Mikey," Mikey replied with his go-to smile.

"I'm Angel," the girl said with a crooked grin. "Though I'm afraid I can't say I've lived up to my name." Alopex and the girl both busted out laughing, Alopex's canine teeth flashing. Dreki chuckled quietly and Björn just shook his head in disapproval.

"We gonna go kick some robo-butt today?" Dreki asked, punching Angel's arm playfully.

"You know it!" she said with bright eyes. "Lemme grab my stuff…" The girl turned around and went back behind the counter, opening a drawer and rummaging through it whilst mumbling to herself.

"So...you got any family Michelangelo?" Alopex asked, drawing Mikey's attention. Her eyes were darting around, as if reading invisible text that was floating around his head. _Odd,_ he thought with a slight frown. Something about her seemed a bit off.

"Yeah, I've got some brothers," he replied, slightly annoyed. Hadn't he just said this minutes ago to Björn? Why was everyone so interested in his family? Alopex gave him a skeptical look, as if she had heard his thoughts.

"Ha!" Angel came back out wearing a sleek suit of black armor and carrying a helmet with dark glass covering the front under her arm. "I'm ready boys. Let's go trash some toys."

"Lookin' good Angel!" Dreki said, giving her a thumbs-up and a goofy smile. Björn rolled his eyes as if saying "oh brother", but being the polite brother he was he didn't voice his thoughts. Alopex cracked her knuckles and pulled up a hood that had been hidden in her scarf, shrouding her face and grinning.

"You ready for this Elsa?" she asked the polar bear with a devious look.

"Not you too," Björn groaned as he pulled on fingerless leather gloves. "Dreki was bad enough."

"Looks like you got some nasty burns from one of those drones," Alopex commented, changing the subject and gesturing at his burnt shoulder. "Didn't quite hit you, but skimmed your skin. You're getting lazy Björn."

"Nah, I was just protecting Mikey over here," Björn said defensively. "When he came out of that portal he was pretty shook up. It's a good thing he ran into us or he would have been toast. Literally."

"You guys are too nice," Alopex commented as the group gathered near the door. "One day it's going to get you killed."

"Being mean would kill us just as quickly," Björn countered. "When you're good you die because you're willing to put yourself in danger for others. When you're bad, you make enemies quickly, and eventually one of them kills you."

"Fair enough," the arctic fox said with a shrug, whipping out a pair of sickles. "To each their own."

"Where are we going first?" Dreki asked eagerly.

"We're going out to Broadway boys," Angel replied, pulling on her helmet. "To be in a little show I like to call "butt-whooping time"."

"Sa-weet!" Dreki whooped, fistbumping with the teen girl. "Let's rock n' roll!" The four mutants and girl let out hollers as they flew out of the bakery, the sudden fresh air and brightness making Mikey breathe in quickly. The group took a sharp left down an alley, Angel and Dreki jumping up and kicking off the walls as Björn took the lead, leaving Mikey and Alopex as the two holding the back of the brigade. Mikey's heart raced as the wind made his eyes tear up. The adrenaline consumed him, everything else becoming forgotten in the haze of this moment. He should have asked Angel and Alopex about his brothers, seen if they knew anything about them, but he felt so alive out here, and so free that he could hardly concentrate on anything.

"Hey, Mikey." Mikey started as Alopex slowed down and grabbed his arm, pulling them back. The arctic fox glanced ahead, but so far the other three hadn't noticed them slowing down. The fox pulled Mikey behind a building, staring intensely at him.

"What is it?" Mikey asked, looking into her amber eyes with concern.

"I think I can help you," she replied in a low tone. "You have three brothers; Leonardo, Raphael and Donatello, right? I know them." Mikey's heart leapt in his chest and he nearly screamed with joy. He was going to find his brothers, finally, and then they could help him get back home, out of this crazy world.

"Yes, those are my brothers!" Mikey replied eagerly. "Please, you have to take me to them. I've been stuck in this crazy alternate universe for only a day and already I just want to get home. I'm sure my brothers will be able to bring me back, I mean, with Donnie's sciencey-stuff he's got to be able to find a way-"

"Shh-" Alopex said irritably. "I get it, I get it. So you're pretty close to your brothers, right?"

"Of course, they're my _family,_" Mikey said, leaning in close. "If you have a family, you'll understand how important this is to me. I have to find them."

"Yes…" Alopex said, her eyes briefly flashing with something similar to guilt. "I understand. My family is what I live for. They took me in when I was alone. Lost. I can understand your need to return to your brothers. Unfortunately-" The fox suddenly pulled out a small spray bottle and shot some sort of liquid into the turtle's eyes. Mikey's hands flew up to his eyes; the liquid felt like it was burning them and he started to scream, but the fox clapped a hand over his mouth to muffle it, using her other hand to slam the butt end of her sickle into his head with a sharp crack. Gently, she lowered him to the ground. Mikey struggled to remain conscious, his eyes still burning. The minute Alopex took her paw off his mouth, the turtle groaned. Everything was shifting in front of him and his head throbbed with every beat of his heart, a horrible feeling.

"Unfortunately, I have a duty to my family," Alopex finished, brushing off her hands and standing up. "And that includes not allowing you to return to your brothers." _That dirty little liar, _Mikey thought angrily. _I can't believe it. _Mikey fought for another moment, shuddering as he tried to sit up, but within seconds he sighed and fell back over, going totally limp and his head lolling.

"Allie! Where'd ya go?" Dreki called out from ahead. Alopex stepped out from behind the building, waving to Dreki with a false smile.

"Me and Mikey have some business to attend to. I'm helping him out with something," she said, waving him off. "Go ahead, we'll catch up with you later."

"You sure?" Dreki asked. "You're gonna miss out on some serious head-bashing."

"Oh, don't worry about us," Alopex said, glancing over at the motionless form of Michelangelo lying on the pavement, hidden from the lizard's view. "We'll be just fine."

* * *

**Cliffhanger! So, last week I asked you guys who Mikey should meet first (and if you haven't responded yet I'd love your feedback!) and this week I figured I'd keep it going and ask you another question. (oh, an interactive story! Wow!) What character(s) would you like to see make an appearance in the story? It can be any character from any version of TMNT. Let me know in the comments! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

***slams head on table* I had this chapter done on Monday, I was all ready to post on Friday and what do I do? I forget. I was going to post it yesterday but I've been sick for the past few days I slept most of the day yesterday, soooo yeah. I didn't post this. But here you are, and I'm incredibly sorry about that!**

**I do not own TMNT.**

He was in a small, black room. He would have thought he was in a black abyss because of the lack of shadows or of light if not for the ground beneath him and the walls pressing up against his shoulders. Mikey squirmed, trying to fight his way loose.

You fear abandonment, yet you choose it.

The voice came from inside of him, unbidden and uncontrolled. It was soft and had a distinctive female quality to it. Mikey shifted uncomfortably in the tight room, trying to see if there was anything hidden in the blackness. "What?" Mikey asked the nothingness, blinking and frowning. "What is this?"

You are insecure. Unsure of yourself.

Mikey gasped as the tight room suddenly melted away and the infinite blackness turned into a forest, trees coming up out of the ground soundlessly. The sky turned to a very deep gray and stars appeared in its midst. Grass literally grew beneath his feet and began to spread out in a circle from him.

Have you ever asked yourself why you are this way?

Mikey turned and looked around him at the shadow-filled forest. Things seemed to distort slowly and inconspicuously, so that he couldn't be sure he wasn't seeing things. The moon darkened and then burst back into light with each passing cloud. Slowly, the turtle took a few steps forward, then paused. Then a few more, then another pause. A slight wind blew from behind him and the leaves rustled gently against each other.

"Hello?" he called out into the underbrush. "Anybody home?" A growl sounded from behind him. Mikey froze, closing his eyes and forcing slow breaths. He couldn't panic. That was what it wanted him to do. To his own surprise, Mikey felt himself turning. When had he decided to do that? Nonetheless, he turned slightly and looked up at the creature. Instantly his stomach dropped. It was a grotesque animal, its ribs showing through its skin and the fur running along its spine patchy and clumped. Two soulless red eyes stared back into his own as a once-bushy tail flicked behind it.

It was a squirrel. Of course it was a squirrel.

"Why do these things always happen to me?!" Mikey screamed, turning tail and running into the bracken. The squirrel screeched and came charging after him, entire branches of trees cracking off as it created a path of destruction in its wake. Mikey's heart was in overdrive; it was like all those times he had been bait for various mindless mutants, only now it was worse because it was a squirrel and his brothers weren't there to swoop in and save him. He knew his fear of the rodents was irrational and uncalled for, but he just couldn't help it. The creature lifted up one bony hand, its claws reaching for him. Mikey ran faster, pupils dilating as branches seemed to move out of their way to trip him and hit him. Nonononono-

Suddenly Mikey was careening out of the forest and headed straight over the edge of a cliff. Screaming, he tried to stop but he couldn't find any sort of grip in the turf so he kept on going, towards the very edge of the world it seemed, because everything beyond it was just black.

"HELP!" he wailed desperately. In one last effort he whipped around and grabbed at the air in front of him. Only it wasn't air. His hand wrapped around something solid, and it grabbed him back. His body still slid off the cliff, but the something he had grabbed onto kept him from falling. Instead he dangled precariously by one arm. Looking up, Mikey saw the blue-masked face of the person stopping him from falling off the edge.

"Leo!" Mikey screamed, hardly even feeling relief at the familiar face. "I'm gonna die!" Leo's expression didn't change as he stared down at his younger brother and gripped onto his hand.

"What the heck Mikey?" Leo asked, frowning slightly. "Couldn't you see the cliff coming?"

"No, no, there was too much foliage in the way and I was being chased-" Mikey sobbed, loosing all control of his emotions. "Please, don't let me die!"

"I think, if I'm recalling correctly…" Leo said each word with agonizing deliberacy, then paused for a moment, as if considering. "...I didn't love you. Isn't that what you said yourself?"

Mikey could only stare as the blood that had been pounding in his ears, deafening him, dissipated and everything was silent.

The eldest of the turtles suddenly released Mikey from his grasp. "NO!" Mikey screamed, but Leo was already disappearing from sight as he fell down into the blackness. "LEO!" he wailed into the nothingness, flailing his arms. How long would he fall? When would he die? Why had Leo let him die?

Grab my hand!

Mikey looked up to see a long, twisted hand reaching for him from above, but no matter how far he fell the hand never disappeared from sight. Like he was falling without moving.

I can save you! You have to grab my hand!

"Who are you?!" Mikey screamed. "Can I trust you?"

You need to grab my hand!

"No! Tell me who you are!" Mikey shouted. "Can I trust you?"

TAKE MY HAND!

There was a sharp pain in his chest and Mikey's eyes flew open to a dark, real room and a white furry face bent over him. He gasped, trying to sit up but finding that he was too weak to push himself up. Panicking, his breaths came in and out in huge gulps of air. What the heck just happened?

"Whoa, whoa, calm down," the furry face said, and Mikey's brain quickly processed what he was seeing and connected it to what had happened previously. The white furry face with amber eyes and purple markings was none other than Alopex.

"You liar!" Mikey spat it out like venom and gathering up every bit of anger and strength he could, the turtle made a lunge for her, intending to grab her by the throat. She yelped, scrambling backwards from him as Mikey fell off the bed with a thump and landed on the concrete, breathing heavily. Alopex's hand came down onto his neck and she pressed her thumb down, hitting a nerve.

"Calm down," she breathed out quietly. Mikey shuddered as he took in a breath, then let it out in a calm, slow way. Slowly, the arctic fox took her hand off him and drew back. Mikey stood up, still horrified by his nightmare and furious at his reality. Nonetheless, he couldn't find any justification for his violent outburst.

"Sorry," Mikey said, not meeting her eyes.

"I was expecting it," she replied with a shrug.

"Where am I?" he asked, looking around the room. The floor was concrete and the walls were a faded shade of green. A lone window provided a dreary view of a decimated street. The only furniture in the room was the falling-apart bed he had been laying on and an uncushioned chair in the corner.

"Welcome to my house," Alopex said, flashing him a grin. "Well, Angel lives here too. We're sorta a team, like you and your brothers." Mikey's surprise must have shown on his face, because she quickly added, "What?"

"You didn't seem like the teaming up type, that's all," Mikey said with a slight shrug. Alopex didn't comment, just gave him an annoyed look. "So, why am I here again?" the orange-masked vigilante asked, changing the subject.

"Because I knew you wouldn't listen to me if I didn't force you to," Alopex replied cooly. "You were like a lost puppy without your brothers, so naturally you'd want to find them as soon as you can. I can't let that happen."

"Why won't you let me see my brothers?" Mikey burst out, looking genuinely hurt. "You don't have a right to stop me. You're probably working for one of their enemies or something-"

"You see?" Alopex said, gesturing at him as if making a point. "This is why I had to take you by force! I knew that if I tried to tell you this without forcing you to stay in one place, you'd immediately object and assume that I was doing this to hurt you and your brothers. You would have run off and I wouldn't have been able to explain myself at all." The fox then sighed and leaned on the windowsill, staring out into the street.

"I don't think you understand how important my brothers are to me," Mikey stated.

"You're the one who doesn't understand," Alopex said, tensing her muscles and giving him a dangerous look from the corners of her eyes.

"What don't I understand? I understand that I need to find my brothers. I have to know what happened to them, if they're okay," Mikey said, biting his lip. I have to know if they missed me. It was a selfish thought but he couldn't deny it.

"Do you have any idea what this would do to your brothers?" Alopex suddenly snarled, her pupils slitting as she slammed her paw down on the windowsill. Mikey flinched. "Your friends, they wouldn't have known any better. They would have brought you to your brothers, thinking they were doing good, and it would have destroyed them."

At that, Mikey fell silent.

"You've been dead for ten years Michelangelo. Ten years. I wish I could say that they've matured, that they'd be able to handle it if someone exactly like their brother came from an alternate dimension, but..." Alopex shook her head, her large fox ears folding back as she sighed. "If you just came back, looking exactly the same as when you had died, they would crumble. I don't know if you understand the weight of this situation. The world is depending on them. If you come back and they have a mental breakdown, you are putting the fate of this city, this country, at risk. That's why you can't see your brothers. That's why I kidnapped you." Mikey stared at Alopex for a few more moments, then cast his gaze downwards and sat down on the bed, crossing his hands in his lap and looking at them vacantly. Alopex sighed and closed the window, staring at her hands for a moment as they lingered on the sill, then she turned around and came next to him, sitting down on the bed. The frame squeaked beneath her and her tail mass took up a large portion of the mattress behind her.

"Do you want to know how I became a mutant?" she asked somewhat quietly. "It was because of your brother, Donatello."

"What?" Mikey nearly shouted, turning to look at her in disbelief.

"I used to be an exotic pet from some rich family. One night I got loose and well, found that the streets of New York weren't suited for an animal like me. Your brother Raph found me and convinced the rest of you to take me back to the lair because I obviously wasn't going to survive in the conditions. He'd never admit it, but big bad boy has a soft spot for animals," Alopex chuckled.

"And the part about my brother experimenting on you?!" Mikey said, clutching the bedsheets in his hands.

"I'm getting there," Alopex replied, holding up a paw. "Anyways, I was your sort-of pet for a while, and things were pretty good for me, but the night you died...I remember it. Even as an animal I could recognize loss. And the loss was deep that day." The white fox shook her head. "I can't pick out details, but...Donatello was pretty messed up for a while. Everyone was, but he was different. Would you believe me if I told you that he can have more of a temper than Raph?"

"Really?" Mikey asked in surprise.

"Yeah. When you died, the worst of him came out. He tried to bury himself in his lab and experiments. He was trying to create some sort of healing agent...I don't know, I hardly understand anything he did-and one night he decided to try it on me," Alopex parted her fur on her side to reveal a long, thin scar. "He cut me, and then injected me with the healing agent. He had created it with mutagen, and while it successfully sealed my wound, over the next week I slowly turned into this. I don't really think he ever forgave himself for that, but people do crazy things when they're grief-stricken."

"...wow," Mikey could only think of one word to say and his chest clenched tighter the longer he thought about it.

"After that things sorta went downhill," Alopex sighed. "I don't really like to talk much about it, but I ended up getting involved in bad things, working for bad people...your brothers don't really care for my company much anymore."

"That's messed up," Mikey responded, shaking his head. "Seriously."

"When you...well, the you in this dimension...died, your entire family nearly broke. It took them so long to finally bring themselves back on their feet, to finally come to terms, and even now they aren't like they used to be. If they had to be reminded of their loss, to see a ghost of the Mikey they used to know...here, I know a better way to explain this," Alopex said. "Think of someone you've lost." Mikey's mind immediately flew to Splinter, and how they had lost him in the fight against Shredder, at least as far as they knew as of yet.

"Now imagine if someone who looked exactly like them appeared one day, but wasn't really them, just a copy of them from another world," Alopex prompted. "The same, and yet not. Imagine how that would feel." A Splinter from another dimension, the same in every physical aspect, but not my father. The very thought made Mikey's innards twist.

"I guess...I can see your point," Mikey replied. "But my brothers are safe?"

"All accounted for, and all as safe as they can get in a world like this," she responded, reaching up to scratch behind her ear. "I am really sorry that you can't see them, but it's too many risks that we can't afford to take. You understand me, right?" Mikey thought for a moment, then reluctantly nodded. She had a good point, one he couldn't argue with, as much as he hated the idea of not seeing his brothers. A sudden thought came to mind.

"Hey Alopex," Mikey said, looking up at her. The fox turned around and looked at him questioningly. "You told me you had a duty to your family. What was that all about?"

"I do have a duty to my family," Alopex replied. "To keep them safe."

"But...who's your family?" Mikey frowned with confusion. "You haven't mentioned anyone."

"Well you see Mikey, for people like me, who don't have real families, we get to choose ours," she said with a quirky smile. "And I chose the entire city as mine. Every house, person, mutant, all of them. This is my city."


End file.
